Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street

How about watching our infamous Jack Sparrow singing on stage?

On this  movie, adapted from Stephen Sondheim’s musical, we’ll meet Johnny Depp role-playing as Mr Todd, a grim full-of-hatred barber who not only cut hair, but also throats.

Originally wronged by a powerful Judge Turpin who had had his eyes for his beautiful wife, Todd returned to London 15 years later with a lust for
vengeance and reunition with his daughter, who’s now Turpin’s ward. On his
plot, he was helped by Mrs Lovett, who ran “the worst-tasted pie” shop in
London, under his barbershop.

Plotting also as Todd’s partner-in-crime, Mrs Lovett graciously regarded the carcass of Todd’s victims as “fresh supplies” for her savory meat pies.
Too bad that Todd just hadn’t realized the secret that Mrs Lovett buried deep in her heart, a secret that would’ve given everything an alternate ending if only Todd had known it earlier.

While being comically grotesque, the movie was at the same time frighteningly real and detail in depicting its scenes. Especially when the bodies with slitted heads slithered from the chair down a chute, crashed and crumpled in the cellar, soon turned into meat. My most favorite one was when in the end, Todd, with his slitted neck pouring geyser of blood, sat lifelessly holding the corpse of his wife.

The music, the true essence of the movie, was also of infernal heaven.

You might be seeing some major characters of Harry Potter in here. Helena Bonham Carter, our Mrs Lovett, was known better as Bellatrix Lestrange. Alan Rickman, roling as the judge, was the notorious Snape while Timothy Spall as Beadle was the right hand of Voldemort.

Johny Depp himself, has numerously collaborated with Tim Burton previously. Other than being Jack Sparrow in the pirates sequel, he was also the mentally unstable Edward Scissorhands, the confectionary genious Willy Wonka, and the smart Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow.

Another version of Shake Hand with The Devil, telling Paul Rusesabagina’s story, a manager of a Belgian owned hotel in Rwanda.

Between April and September 1994, Rwanda was in a political uproar leading to the massacre of million of Tutsi minorities by the Hutus.It’s supposed to be very easy for Paul,a Hutu himself, despite his Tutsi wife,to simply turn his back on if not joining the euphoria of the blood shed orgy.But instead,he opened his hotel as a secret refugee,saving more than a thousand Tutsis and risking himself as another “Tutsi cockroach”.

Of course it’s easier to be said than done.On the process,Paul was entangled in certain complexities.The most interesting one was how,in spite of his own mental deprivation,he insisted on portraying himself still as a professional hotelier.Not only so that their secret refugee left unattaked, but also it’s vital for the Tutsis to maintain a sense of hope in the verge of insanity. This was clearly seen when he avoided Dube,his ever faithful staff from seeing him in the middle of his tears.

Many ironic scenes were catched here. A cynical TV journalist said to Paul when he was elated for the possibility of the world to save them when they saw the video of the massacre: “If people see this footage, they’ll say how terrible it is and then go on eating their dinner.”

But indeed the world really turned their back. The UN forces’re not allowed to shoot as they’re told to be the “peace keepers”,not the “peace makers”. Although the Tutsis were defenseless without military power to support them, there’s clearly enough foreign army in Rwanda to do that.The problem was they’re ordered only to evacuate the foreigners, even not including Paul, who had swallowed all the ridiculous western manners,wine,and chocolates through his life. He’s still black and he’s not even a nigger.

To survive this tumult and save the people in his care,Paul was forced to be smart in making quick decisions.All along his years,he had been raised to understand the true strength of power.As a wheeler-dealer he realized the importance of trading favors here as well as how thousand of lives at his hand relied on his stock of cigars and scotch left to bribe the Hutu
military.

And as if everything he had done was not enough, in the last second, when his family finally obtained the visa required to get out off Rwanda, Paul even decided to stay behind in the hotel with the rest of Tutsis which led his wife and kids to hysteria when they were evacuated by UN convoy.

Unlike SHTD, Hotel Rwanda was downlaying the actual gore. But still, the movie would bring you not only to feel that your heart was being squeezed out by the irony, but also to the brink of helpless alarm how the seething hatred would finally burst.

My Blueberry Nights

Despite the bad reviews it’s been getting, MBN is an artistically beautiful love movie with a strong feeling of gripping loneliness and complexity throughout the plot: in which the main character took the long road instead of the short one to find her love.

Norah Jones played as Elizabeth who coincidentally found out from Jeremy (Jude Law), a cafe owner, about her boyfriend’s affair. Their next few meetings after grew love between them but Beth needed to make sure how she felt first before she embarked into a journey of a new love. So, after a last kiss with Jeremy, Rachel set off, leaving her keys with Jeremy: which then he kept with many other keys accidentally left there, keys with lots of stories behind them, so Jeremy said.

Working double shift to save for a car, on the road, she met with Arnie, a cop with drinking problems who could not forget his wife, Sue Lyne. When later in desperation, Arnie killed himself, Beth in turn comforted the the wife, who despite her saying that she no longer loved her husband, now grieving at her wit’s end.

In the next place where the bus took her, her path then crossed with a gambling gal, Leslie’s. They then made a bet: Beth had to lend her savings to Leslie which would be returned if she won. But if she lost, Beth would get her Jaguar. So Leslie lost and Beth was asked to drive her to Las Vegas. There Leslie planned to meet her father, also a gambler. Despite her outgoing personality, now we could know how Leslie was so lonely inside. She once vowed not to trust anyone but cards. Even when she got a call that her old man was severely ill, she refused to come, afraid of being tricked by him once more. However, it turned out that Leslie’s lost this bet: when she finally chose to come, the old man had passed away.

All the turmoils on the road finally brought Elizabeth back to Jeremy.

Jones’ inexperience in acting became her advantage here as she played a passive in-the-background role, observing other characters. This way, the watchers were led to plunge deeper into the emotional turmoils of the player.

For the first English film directed by Wong Kar Wai, My Blueberry Nights is amazing, especially in his choice of shooting angle which brought more the feeling of longing in this movie.

27 Dresses

They say, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride”

It’s a classic themed movie about our reliable, never-say-no Jane. Here’re what we can say about her: modestly beautiful, lonely but eternally hopeful, devoted…and also a sincere doormat for almost everyone. Lol. Of course everyone in her office knew how deeply in love she was with her boss, George..except the boss himself of course!

A romantic naive, she truly believed that by always being there in her friend’s greatest day (even though it meant being silmutaneously in 2 weddings in one night!), she would finally find her soul mate (hopefully George) and when it did, her friends would be there for her. Plus, she was also a faithful fan of “Commitments” column in the Sunday Wedding section of New York Journal.

So Jane had found her dream career: a bridesmaid who kept all the 27 dresses (and the dreams in each one of it) of those weddings she became one. And of course finally, our waiting-for-her-prince-on-a-white-horse Jane met with Kevin (later turned out to be the secret writer of Commitments) who was a jaunty, cynic, and pain in the arse. NB: in case u haven’t known yet, he’s the ridiculous prince in Enchanted, but here, he’s so charming!! Being so curious of her since they first met, Kevin just never stopped courting her

As if it wasn’t a nuisance enough, Jane got her little sister Tess, came visiting. As she was so stunningly beautiful – although shallow and selfish at the same time – it could be readily guessed that George then fell in love with Tess, instead of Jane, from the first sight. Again, unable to say no, she ended up being the wedding organizer and bridesmaid for her sister’s wedding with the man she loved – in her dream wedding.

On the process, Jane had to couple up with Kevin, as he said that he would be writing about Tess’ wedding. Despite all their disputes, she came to find out that they did have some similarities, unlike her and George. But Kevin then found out how Jane’s actually in love with her future brother-in-law and Jane found out Kevin’s hidden motive to her. Being so sick of everything, including Tess’ lies to George, Jane then blurted out all the truths – and her repressed feelings – just before the D-Day, causing the wedding to be canceled.

Of course in the end everything ended up well and Jane finally found her true Mr Right. The movie was a cliche. But as I’m still a regular woman who love all these craps of romance, I love this movie! And I especially love the songs featured in it, “Call Me Irresponsible”, “Lady West”, and definitely “Bennie and The Jets”!

The Painted Veil

Based on a novel of the same name, Painted Veil is a classic themed movie about love, affair, and tragedy. But yet, it’s still beautifully charming.

Set in the 1920s the newly weds Kitty and Walter Fane would soon set off to China, as this land seethed with revolutionary movements and… cholera.

Although no one could doubt Fane’s devotion as a bacteoriologist there, viewers could soon realize that he accept the task to redeem his broken heart as well as to punish his vain reckless wife for her affair. For Kitty, as she was forced into this hasty marriage by her dominant mother, a reliable gentleman like Dr Fane was just boring. Therefore, she fell easily into the trap of a married womanizer, Charles Townsend.

But then, in Shanghai, where death seemed to linger around everywhere, Kitty surprisingly learned how selfless and caring Fane was. Her husband might look cold and ignorant while he was with her, due to his anguish to her. But later, when she decided to volunteer in a local orphanage ran by a couple of French nuns, she could start to know her husband from a different angle and learn to love him.

Their marriage finally blossomed. Once again, Kitty respected and admired her husband for his unconditional love to her when she found out that she was pregnant but she could not say who the father was. Instead of being engulfed by rage, Fane simply said that it no longer mattered, bringing Kitty to edge of her tears of affection for her husband.

Sadly, their happiness was not long lasting. Kitty was again left in devastation and grief when her husband suddenly died of cholera. She then decided to return to London. But now, she had been a mature new Kitty, Kitty who was full of love for her husband, instead of a feeling that she was being wasted and useless, when she was before dumped by Townsend.

An interesting scene was when five years later Kitty with her five year old son, Walter, who was clearly Townsend’s child by looks, unexpetedly ran into her old lover, Townsend. By then, Kitty could show that Townsend meant nothing for her now and walk gracefully with her nose in the air.

PS I Love U

Frankly speaking, I was rather reluctant to watch this movie at first… I never read the novel before as I thought that it would be a weepy sentimental reading..and I avoided watching it for the same reason: I clearly did not want to waste my money for then wasting my tears after it!

But, really, the tears (and the money of course) worth spending! The movie is indeed sentimental, but it’s hilarious as well. It’s the only movie I’ve ever watch where I could shed tears and laugh at the same time. It’s an awkwardly charming movie!

In this movie, you will meet the most perfectly matched couple ever – although they didn’t look so at the first time. Holly Kennedy, starred by Hillary Swank, was a beautiful smart late 20s woman married to the passionate impetuous Irishman, Gerry (whose name was quantly spelled “”Jerry” and who, of course, had a very cute Irish accent!). As other normal couples, they normally sweated petty stuffs like money, ambition in life, and even whose turn to turn off the light today!

But then, as life went sadly ironic to those two (those who lived their life to the fullest, like Gerry, often had to die first), and Gerry passed away because of brain cancer, Holly missed him desperately. In her complete feeling of loss, she locked herself in her apartment…in order to avoid someone telling her the truth that her husband was no longer with her. She lived her voidness by hallucinating sleeping in Gerry’s hug like always every night, wearing his shirts, and even refusing to take shower, simply because she didn’t want to forget his body scent on hers.

But Holly was just not ready when she got a surprise present on her birthday, a few weeks after the funeral. A birthday cake and a recording with a letter from Gerry. And that letter was followed by many letters after. Each of them, as promised, came to her in an unexpected way every month simply to cheer her up. Each of them was filled by instructions that Holly must obey no matter what. And each of them was ended by a sentence: ps, i love u.

With those letters, Gerry unselfishly taught her to, just like him before, live her life passionately! To chase her dreams in life and to be understanding when her best friends’ lives seemed in their fullest bloom while hers’ not.
With those letters as well, he unselfishly taught her to always remember him, but at the same time realizing that he was only a short chapter in her long to go life.
And at the same time, assuring her that no matter what, he still loved her…

Clearly, in the end, the movie provided a logical answer of how those letters came to Holly.

But what impressed me most was of how loving Gerry was in his last minutes of life. Instead of grieving how God was so unfair to him and how frightening death was, he was afraid of how Holly could continue her life without him.

That is what true love is for me.

American Gangster

“We could become successful and have enemies. Or we can be unsuccessful and have friends. That are our choice.”

The life of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) finally started when his respected mentor and boss who was in charge of the whole Harlem, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson died in 1968.

As the proverb said that once the cat left, the mice would celebrate, that’s what happened after Bumpy’s death. Flashy and tiny worthless gangsters started to test their luck by coming forward. Who knew that they could be the next Bumpy? And Frank detested them.

But that soon changed when Frank chose to interfere and turned the heroin business, the most powerful business, in Harlem upside down by getting a new potent substance called “Blue Magic” through its sole supplier in the woods of Vietnam, which was in the middle of Vietnam War at that time. Frank quickly made a fortune and then called his nephews from the quiet North Carolina to build a heroin empire in Harlem. With the gorgeous Eva, the beauty queen from Puerto Rico, Frank Lucas was now really the emperor in rule. And he really handled his small kingdom with his iron fists. A promise: he would definitely punish and get rid of anyone in his way, even if they were his family members.

Despite his extravagant and risky business, in reality Frank really led a decent life. He went to church every sunday. He loved his mother and especially his wife. He was the second Robin Hood after Bumpy in Harlem. He was so generous that the people of Harlem loved him so much. Frank was really a man who knew that he could not extend things too far.

It’s just that, in order to get a peaceful life like this and for the sake of his business as well, Frank needed to spend a portion of his money…to bribe the rats from the local authority.

That’s before he met Detective Richie Roberts, who was juggling his marriage and his police career for his idealism. He’s just that honest that he could turn in nearly US$ 1 mil when he found it. And he’s just that honest that almost everyone in his force detested him for getting in their way.

But this would soon change when his superior, Captain Lou Toback, assigned him in charge of a special Narcotics Unit in order to ruin Frank Lucas’ Blue Magic empire, as well as the corrupted authority. And the life of Richie was now intertwined with Frank and both of them now needed to plunge in a brain game: only he’s who’s fast and smart could come as the champion in the end.

1408

As expected from a film made from the work of Stephen King, 1408 is really that terrifying.

In 1408, we have Mike Enslin, a once talented writer who led a lame life by writing pulp stories of haunted locations. His books were that cheap that you could easily find them on discounted books section. But then Enslin chose to make a full blast epilogue by spending a night in the famous 1408 room in the Dolphin Hotel, thanks to a no name postcard sent to him with a message: Don’t Stay in 1408.

No one was allowed to stay in that room due to the order of Gerald Olin, the hotel manager. It’s not like Olin hated to have a full house in his hotel, but as he said to Enslin, he detested cleaning up the “mess” after that. Well for sure, it would be a shame if we said only a few grisly deaths had happened in 1408..But not even a bottle of rare champagne, a complete documentation of tragic events in that room, or even Olin’s warning that no one had ever survived that room for more than an hour could stop Enslin. Well, he simply did not believe in ghost…or God..or anything else that he could not see with his bare eyes.

But as Olin said too…there’s no ghost in 1408. The room was simply evil on its own.

And with a old-fashion wooden key to room 1408 (as magnetized key never functioned in the room), Enslin was ready to start his adventure..that if he was smart enough to stay alive to tell the story after.

Ironically, despite its menacing reputation, 1408 was really a genuine hotelier at heart…It’s started when the room even provided a turn down service for Enslin, although he could not see who put the two sweets on his pillow. The problem came when the room opted to stop being nice with Enslin.

Simply saying, the room tried it best in that one hour to persuade, prod, and even force Enslin to the brink of insanity and finally chose the express check out way from the terror, as the lady from the hotel operator suggested….or to kill himself, since according to her, a hotel should always respect the guest will. All of them in a short duration 0f 60 minutes. But in a room where everything could happen, even a short one hour could last longer that it’s supposed to be, don’t you think so?

John Cussack as Mike Enslin was really the center attention in this movie as most of the scenes here were starred only by himself. But he did it amazingly. His wonderful act and the plot together would torment the viewers to their worst nightmare and even tears at the same time. Most importantly, it made my heart jump at the most unexpected time…you simply could not guess what would happen next, which made me really got caught up in the story. If what you are looking for is classic horror movie that could raise the hair on the back of your neck, you’ll get your answer here.

Lesson learned: Sometimes you just can’t get rid of your bad memories and you just have ti live with them.

Kalatidha by Seno Gumira Adjidarma

Kalatidha was a fictious imaginery novel that told a story of a nameless man, the main character of the plot, who was a prisoner accused for corruption. In his prison, where he felt being the ultimate free man, he read a volume of cuts of old newspapers from year 1965 and his mind wandered around in a mist he created..in different kinds of realms he himself could not differentiate, as they were one.

His wandering mind brought him to the old memories of two twin girls…with one of whom he fell in love during his childhood..He still remembered how he saw one of the twin, the one he fell in love with, died in a fire with her parents… a fire set by a bunch of people..as the family was accused of being a member of PKI – a communist party in Indonesia who was said as the mastermind behind the tragedy of 30th September 1965, the killings of seven generals.

The surviving twin, ended up crazy, in her own traumatic memories. While the man often found the dead twin’s bodyless spirit wandering around in a nearby foggy bamboo forest, he also often spotted the surviving twin’s soulless body roaming in the village and in front of her old house, which was now occupied by another family through a questionable ownership.

“Yang satu menjelma bayangan yang terkadang tampak dan terkadang hilang, yang lain masih berkeliaran di muka bumi dengan diri yang kadang hilang kadang kembali”

And one day, an ambulance and a group of bulky men dragged her into an asylum..as her quiet stare started to irritate the new family living in that house..

“…tatapan mata sayu itu tidak seperti mata yang menuduh tetapi mereka merasa tertuduh…”

There, in the asylum, she met another bunch of lunatics..No, not her fellow members of the asylum..but the doctors and guards on duty there..who, despite their avowed sanity, acted like beasts. They treated the girl like a caged animal..they kicked her..they raped her by turns.

Then, she wished if only she had been killed as well in the fire.

“Mungkinkah api baginya terasa begitu sejuk, dingin, indah tak terperi, sehingga sosok-sosok terbalut api itu membuatnya merasa iri, sepi, bagai ditinggalkan sendirian di dunia yang fana ini?”

And finally, came the judgement day..when the wandering spirit of her dead twin possessed her once souless body..They had once been two, but now they became one..an invincible warrior princess..

In the following 256 days, 256 men were murdered brutally..They were not only the doctors and guards who once raped her, but also those who burnt her house down, and those who, in that day, stood silently and watched the fire went rampant..and enjoyed the sight.

I enjoyed reading this story, like I enjoyed reading other Seno’s stories. The hidden meaning was simple, but Seno never failed telling a cliche in an unpredictable ways..and he did it with full power.

One lesson I gained from Kalatidha was how people always believe what they want to believe..how everything will turn out the way we portray and see it..
One instance set in the plot was how, in that gory 1965, thousands of people were accused, arrested, and killed because people believed they were members of PKI, having no chance to prove themselves first

“Setiap kali disadarinya betapa buruk citra dirinya dalam dongeng manusia disambarnya kaki siapapun yang terendam lidah ombak di tepi pantai kekuasaannya. Demikianlah ia akan mengada selama manusia menghendakinya.”

Menagerie, 1

Menagerie, published by Lontar Foundation, is a compilation of Indonesian literature works – including fictious short stories, poetries, photographs, and essays – from various authors translated by various translaters.

And this is its first prima donna.

Some of the stories included are really worth mentioning, in my opinion.

For instance, Zero Point by B.Y. Tand which was one of my favorites. It told a story a man with two pregnant wives..both, as women who were looking for protection in a man, were powerless.

“The Fence”, written by Hamsad Rangkuti was another favorite of mine, for it taught a unique point of view in thinking. Which one should come first? A jar or a sugar? A fence or something of value?

“The Purification of Sita” by Leila S Chudori was the one that was most special for me. Here a story of a woman, who was afraid of being guilty for an affair while she actually did nothing, was told. Her guilt was actually pointless as actually she was the one who was cheated by her lover, who pleaded her to understand him, as women were supposed to have more self control while men, when it came to dealing with temptations of the flesh, didn’t seem willing to be rational. This point of view was compared with the legend of Sita, whose love was doubted by Vishnu, her husband after she was held captive by the enemy. If only Sita had had a chance to question her husband…

“She suddenly remembered that the Queen had never been given the opportunity to question her husband. Supposing that she had asked ‘During the time that we were separated, my husband, were you tempted to involve yourself with another woman..?’But no, that sort of question was not raised. And never would be allowed to be raised. How strange..”

Next in line was a short story written by NH Dini, titled “Warsiah”. Once more, this story pictured the inequality between men and women. It told a story of Warsiah, who, despite her forever humble dream of merely having a man that would love her, was forced to taste the bitterness of her husband’s betrayal. And when she was simply being determined, to defend her rights, by proposing for a divorce, she was again forced to swallow the bitter consequences: the new way men look at her as a divorced woman.

“The Gift”, a work by Putu Wijaya, came in third. It’s a story of a husband who was desperately trying to bring happiness to his wife, by fulfiling his promise when he once proposed her while on the other hand, his wife saw him deeper than that simple ridiculous promise of youth.

Other than those, there was also “Minem Has a Baby” by Putu Wijaya that portrayed a simple life and way of thinking in the village, how a father became very proud by being able to marry his daughter to another man in her early ages..as early as twelve year old.

And there was “Mother’s Wall” by Danarto, telling how pettyly and shortmindedly children thought of and recognized their mom, despite everything a mother had done.

Some poetries were also worth to be pinpointed, such as “Narcissus” by Sapardi Djoko Damono and “Pariyem’s Confession” by Linus Suryadi, which should be praised for its unique words selection and composition.

Menagerie is definitely a must to read! I am in fact wandering if I could have the following volumes…..