It’s Bee Movie and It Stings! ;p

According to any pronounced law of aviation, there is no way that bees could fly… Their tiny wings are way too small to support their plump body.
But of course, bees fly anyway.
It’s simply because bees don’t really care about what humans think of them.

To some extent, it’s true..but to further extent, bees – at least those in this fabulous animated comedy – do care.. especially when humans thought of them as tiny little beasts who could be simply manipulated for their honey..

And enchantingly, Mr Jerry Seinfield – the all-in-one figure behind this stunning lustrous fable – succeeded in perfectly portraying bee-ish point of view on our perhaps-in”animal” deeds as well as bees’ at-least-in-human’s-mind twisted behaviour.

… such as why bees always hit the glass and why lights always draw bees near… I like these jokes, by the way ^^

And, for lawyer’s only to note, i do like what the Mooseblood’s in-the-end-of the-movie reasoning that befits why mosquitos were born to be lawyers: they were the experts of blood-sucking…no offense, guys ))

Anyway, in Bee Movie, you’ll be introduced to Barry Benson, a maverick bee who was more than queer. Unlike other ordinary bees, he questioned the fact why bees should work themselves to death… why bees only got to pick one-job-for-a-lifetime… why, why, and why.

These never-ending whys led Barry to skip his first day at work to join the bee air squad, basically meant a squad doing polination and searching for honey, although it had a consequence of him never coming back to the hive. Well, you could simply end up dead on duty…but that’s actually where the attraction lied..being able to see the world outside the hive.

That worth the sacrifice too as then Barry The Bee got to meet and fall in love with the definitely-unbeeish florist Vanessa — very understandable as she was the only human who did not try to smack him to death. Lol! And he broke up the number one not-to-do rule: talking to human! (that answers the question why we never hear talking bees ;p )

Their encounter made him learn that all this time bees had been enslaved by human race to produce honey. And, naturally, as Barry The Maverick, Barry decided to file the case: bees versus honey farms

You might be able to guess who finally won the case, of course. The morale of the story is whether you are the type of person who dare to swim against the current to fight for what you believe or not. And most importantly, if you could admit that you had made a mistake or not… Coz Barry then learnt that mother of nature had her own intention by setting the 27 years relationship between humans and bees the way it was. And in a wisp of chain, if you take out a piece of its link, you will change the whole structure completely..

I personally prefer Madagascar and Shrek, that came from the same maker, but I do give an applause for Seinfield for his initiative in including Larry King, Ray Liiotta, and Sting as the droll cameos.

So, enjoy the drone and be careful of the sting! ^^

Jejak Gelisah (Akhmad Sekhu)

This short novel was about a guy named Gilang, his girlfriend named Mayang, and a village myth about “pulung gantung” in Wiwitan Village, Gunung Kidul.

The story was a bit of a cliche actually. It’s telling how the relationship between Gilang and Mayang, the village beauty, was not approved by her mother, Jeng Utari, as Mayang came from a noble family while Gilang came from a very humble family, a son of a mere farmer.

As Gilang was banned from stepping his feet on Mayang’s house, he then came to another solution. Unlike other couples who were in love, they always had their rendesvouz on Mayang’s house roof instead. There these two humans used to have their most intimate moments…until one day they saw “pulung gantung” that fell on Gilang’s house.

What the villagers called as “pulung gantung” was actually a comet shooting over the night sky. Despite its magnificent beauty, it was believed that those who had their houses called at by a “pulung gantung” would be doomed..usually one of their family members would be found committing suicide.. as the shooting star brought an evil spirit who would demented thoughts to a human’s head…

And that night, Gilang’s father was found dead, hanged with a wisp of rope ensnaring his broken neck..

The family who had their members killed by a “pulung gantung” would normally be avoided by the rest of the villagers, as catastrophe brought by it was said to be contagious..

But at least there was a positive point coming up from the tragedy.. Gilang was forced to leave the arid village and searched for a better life in Jakarta..

However, Jakarta failed to give its best to Gilang. Also, being a while in the big city, Gilang was continuously disturbed with nightmares in his sleep, bringing him back to the memories of Wiwitan village, and of course, Mayang.

These nightmares finally brought Gilang home, with his friends, Choky and Gondho, as well as Nana, a girl from a wealthy family who fell in love with Gilang… And there, Gilang found Mayang, a girl who still had his heart, was forced to marry another guy, a son of an usurer, to whom her mother owed a large debt..

Despite the unique myth of “pulung gantung”, for me, Jejak Gelisah was not really interesting to read..It’s still a story of a cliche..of an unapproved love..of a man who gave hopes to a woman, despite knowing that is heart was still possessed by another woman…The character of the protagonists in this novel were also ordinary… a good guy and a beuatiful woman.

I am Legend

Starred by Will Smith, the movie was a bit ridiculous for me… I was interested to view this movie at first during the screening of JiFFest..but I ended up watching it last Monday, instead..

I Am Legend was a story of Lieutenant Colonel Dr Robert Neville, supposed as the only surviving human in New York, after a spread of contagious K virus massacred not only the residents of the city, but also more than 90% population of the world. His only daughter and wife was killed on their way out of the island, when everyone was evacuated.

In the end, he was left alone, with his faithful watchdog, Samantha, a bunch of deers, lions, and surely, zombies, the aftermath of the KV, who got burnt under sunlight. Trapped in his loneliness, Neville survived the tragedy by being careful not to go out before the sun rose and to return home before the sun set..so the zombies could not follow him home and catch him when darkness fell. He also managed to get himself immune of the virus, although he still could not find the perfect cure of the disease, which he kept working on in his basement laboratory.

Well, although a life like this seemed so dull, everything should have gone perfectly well, right?

But one day, thanks to his foolishness of talking with a piece of manequin (well, i am sure he felt really lonesome for having no one to talk to except the mute Sam), Neville got caught in his own trap..a trap he set to catch a zombie for his lab experiment. Got hit on his head, Neville fainted and woke up when a little of afternoon sunlight was barely left, a minute before the demons got out from their hideout. Sam, his only companion, died in this incident.

Outraged by the death of Sam, Neville did an even more foolish thing. The following day, he set out after darkness fell, to the harbour, to get revenge to a bunch of the zombies… Which was of course became an unequal match. Not only Neville was on their perfect timing, their number also perfectly outnumbered his troops consisting of he and himself!

However, in his last minutes, came a woman and a child who came to look for him… finally a result of his broadcasting words of his survival in the radio previously. They had been waiting for him all day long.

Neville woke up the following day in his house, safe and sound, with words from the woman that there was a safe colony waiting for them in Canada, where the temperature was cold enough for the zombies to survive. Neville, pessimistic enough about life, didn’t believe in her words.. especially for her not being able to logically explain it, except that she thought it was a coincidence and a gift from God… (The movie got ridiculous here as they then were trapped in a discussion whether God trully existed or not) Well, Neville simply no longer believed in God..

Evening came and things got worse then when suddenly a group of zombies came to his home. Unforeseenly, they followed them back the day before (which was weird as I thought that zombies had no brains..so how come they could follow people home? Well perhaps they were the different ones from Resident Evil’s)

The three then ran off to their last protection, Neville’s lab, to find out that finally the cure that Neville had been working on finally showed an effect. Having known this, instead of getting pumped with a desire to survive, Neville said that he finally realized what God meant by sending her to him… for Elena to distribute the cure. He told the two to hide in a small bunker…(which was clearly not small enough coz it still had an extra place for Neville). Neville, on the other hand, set out to sacrifice himself.

Well, in the end, the two surely found the surviving colony in Canada which was previously mentioned.. They came with the cure (in a perfectly clean car, which seemed a bit too much after a long way from New York)… with a word how the foolhardy Neville had died heroicly to ensure that human would not extinct…to leave his legacy in human kind.

It’s how the movie ended. But I still could not figure out…how Neville could manage to get gas for his car (while he never got out of the island) and running water and electricity for so long… A question left unanswered til the end of the movie ;p

I am a bit curious with the book though…..it’s under the same title, wrote by Richard Matheson….

It’s JiFFest the Ninth, babeee!!

Honestly I am disappointed with this year JiFFest! Hix…hix..

Well, not because the movies were not good enough…..In fact, the movies were way too good….that I regret the fact that JiFFest was only held annually and for one week only!

But perhaps, it won’t be so festive like this if it was held way too often.. ^^

This year’s JiFFest was held in six different places, including the newly-opened Blitz Megaplex. However, I only had chance to go to two places only, Jakarta Theater and Blitz.

This was definetely not enough.. I could only some of them:

1. Gala Premiere of JiFFest Script Development Competition Winners 2006
This featured two different kinds of movies in a total of 60 minutes: Crescent Moon Over The Sea and Boy Meets Girl.

The first movie told a story of the life of villagers in Bungin island, when a road was built to connect the fisherman village to the main island. Honestly, the movie got me bored..But anyway, I am not so much documentary-movie type ;p

But the second movie, starred by Wulan Guritno, telling a story about whether beautiful women and ugly men could be together or not, was really funny! But it’s only screened for about 10 minutes..Too bad..

2. Playing between Elephants

It’s another documentary movie telling about the reconstruction of East Geunting Village in Aceh, one year after the tsunami. The movie did portray the complication involved in surviving the traumatic tsunami..when a help that was supposed to be recieved in gratefulness brought instead problems..but again, I got bored ;p

3. The Photograph

This movie was really good! I even had to sit on the stairs as I got no seat )

4. Shake Hands with The Devil

This one was also good..It told a story about the civil war in Rwanda when a peace treaty was supposed to be signed.. Read my review in:

5. Possible Lives (Las Vidas Posibles)

The movie might seem a bit boring, but I like this one as well.. Here, we could see how a man was indeed possible in having more than one life!

6. Hula Girls

This was my closing movie for this year JiFFest! And I really didn’t regret it! I dont know that hula dance could be so sexy and full of life )

But well, despite these fabulous films, I lost chance to watch some other movies as well..

1. Chants of Lotus (Perempuan Punya Cerita)

I know that the movie will be out next January..but I don’t think I still have the chance to watch it by that time…

2. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (4 Iuni, 3 saptamani, si 2 zile)

The ticket was out already! When I came to Jakarta Theater, there’s only 1 more ticket left…but well, since I came with my friend, I couldn’t watch it, unless it’s fine to be “em-te” Lol!

3. Love & Honor (Bushi no Ichibun)

The last one was screened on Saturday..I needed to go somewhere that time..hix

4. La Vie En Rose

5. Into the Wild

6. Waiter (Ober)

7. Two Days in Paris

8. Elizabeth: The Golden Age

9. The Fall

Does anyone know where I could get these movies????

Shake Hands with The Devil

“To love a child is easy. What is not easy is to love a child who is not so beautiful”

This Canadian movie, featured in Atlantic Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Based on true story, Shake Hands with the Devil told a story about a civil war happened in Rwanda, Africa in 1993.

At that time, Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was dispatched by United Nations, under UNEMAIR, to oversee a fragile cease-fire between the rebeling Tutsi minority ethnic group and the government dominated by Hutu’s ethnic group. Dallaire came with a dream of bringing peace to the long-conflicted land.

But he then had to face the bitter truth, when he realized that even UN could not erase the hatred buried deep down in the gorgeous luxuriant Rwanda, in the heart of the government and politicians who were supposed to lead an example to their civilians. Instead, UN had indeed shaked hand,made an agreement with the devil, leading to a blood shed war.

When the civil war, a genocide of the Tutsis, erupted, it was trigerred by one of the ruling general from Hutu, who insisted that all Tutsis needed to be eliminated. Men, women, and even children of the Tutsis, including Hutu’s moderate group was brutally slain. More than 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered in this genocide. The responsible general on the other hand, ran away in the middle of the conflict, leaving his home country soaked in blood and corpses.

And for the first time in his life, Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was forced to admit the fact that he was powerless to stop this massacre as UN chose not to do anything… Anyway, it’s the main principle that UN brought when they first landed in Rwanda: for not taking sides.

Dallaire’s conscience won after all. Despite of UN’s support, he opened the door of his head quarter to thousands of Rwandas seeking for protection. Even so, he still had to face the fact that there were still others whom he could not reach. Moreover, lack of food, medicine, ammunition, and man power were simply lurking and waiting behind. The refugees were forced to choose, whether to die by being killed or by spreading malaria and hunger in the camp.

More and more troops were retreating as they were not prepared to be further involved in this matter. Less than 500 managed to overcome their fear and fight for humanity, for the idealism that they once believed in. In the end, thanks to them, 30,000 Rwandans were saved.

Some scenes were really touchy in this movie.

Such as when a woman fell on the road as the road was slippery by pool of fresh blood.. Just behind her were a group of people slaughtering their prey of the day, throwing the corpses to the back of a truck..She merely screamed..

Another was when a Rwandan woman screamed hopelessly at Dallaire for not being able to do anything..while he, who came from UN, should have been like a longed for prophet who came there to bring peace… Dallaire, on the other hand, had to admit the truth to the woman, that they could not, because they lacked on medicine and men.

There was also a scene when Dallaire purposely cut himself…just to ease himself from the pain and insanity…For him, the pain of the bleeding cut, had at least resolve his guilty for a while, for failing to avoid blood to spill there.

Perhaps, just as said once:

“The death of one person might be a tragedy. But the death of thousand was simple a matter of statistic”

Hula Girls: Pursuing your Dream

Should we also change when all around us are changing?

A drama that combines comedy in it, Hula Girls was one of Jiffest movie that was really amazing..It’s deep in meaning while at the same time entertatining as well (especially the romantic relationship between one of the park personell and a palm tree named Christina) ))

The movie was based on a true event,old fashioned, the company there decided to shut down the factory and replaced it with an Hawaiian cultural park.

As coal mining has been the business there for more than a century, adding to the fact that Johan was a freezing city, this plan created an uproar. The village residents also needed to be prepared for a mass termination..while the Hawaiian park offered only a limited number of employments. Things really were going to change…

Which was even worse, the teacher sent to tutor the girls there for the dancing lessons, was not too enthusiastic with her tasks..despite the fact that she was a wonderful dancer. However, amazed with the strong will of her first four students, she understood how despite all the defiance from almost all of the residents, there were some who were indeed looking for a change and a new opportunity in their lives.

The students, Kimiko, Sayuri, Sanae, and a mid-aged mother, faced some challenges as well in order to manifest their dreams. Kimiko was forced to quit her home as her mother viewed her as a traitor to the family, as well as to the village, just because she insisted in pursuing her ridiculous dream, of being a hula dance, who did nothing but teased men in their half-naked costume, so said her mother. Sanae had to deal with his father’s outrage, on the day he got fired, and then left the city and her dream behind. Sayuri, the well-built clumsy girl, was blamed by the villagers for choosing to dance in front of a bunch of strangers out town over being with her loving father in his last moments. But with determination and hard work, they survive.

From their first show that turned out to be a disaster to, finally, a series of applause and cheers from the audience, they learned their lessons and grew from it. All were honing them to be a group of no longer amateurs..but now professional hula dancers!

And the time finally came..the time to prove themselves to their family in their home town…the grand opening of the Hawaiian cultural park in Johan… Would all their tears and sweats all this time got paid? Or would they still receive denials from the villagers?

In the end, what left in me was a curiosity over the relationship between the dance teacher and Kimiko’s older brother… They seemed to be a perfect match since the beginning of the movie..Did they end up together??? And I was wondering….

And I just realize, that hula dancing could be so full of life and sexy! Lol!

The Photograph: how a series of photos could tell lies or truths

As one movie featured in Jiffest 2007, this movie is really worth a view! Unlike other Indonesian movies that we normally found in the cinemas..The Photograph was more depth in meaning..

The Photograph told a story about Sariah, more well known as Sita. Her story was a cliche. Lured to come to the city by the sweet promises of Suroso, her lover, Sita ended up as a night club singer. Forced by the need of a better life and her mounting debts to Suroso, Sita was pushed to smile every time a bunch of hands touch her hips and breasts, although she still had to disguise her true identity as a factory-worker-soon-going-to-be-a-manager to her ill grandmother and only daughter, Yani, in the village. Ironically, Yani was even not that happy, everytime she got a call from her mother. Being a small girl, Yani was always too sleepy and tired, everytime Sita called at night..as those were the only times when phone rates were affordable for her.

Then one night, Sita was sold by Suroso, to a bunch of scums who raped her. This began her unique story in The Photograph, her unlikely relationship with Johan, an old eccentric Chinese photographer, in whose attic Sita rent a room. As a payment to Johan’s rescue, Sita offered herself as a maid in his house.

Two different cultures came in a mix here. Johan, born as a Chinese with all of the complicated traditions and myths, was forced to live in misery and a feeling of guilty, after the death of his wife and son. He felt that he had already failed his life, for not being able to take care of the only two who loved him deeply. One promise that he made to his ancestors was that he would find one successor, to continue running his small studio. This was the only thing that keep him alive. His struggle with Sita, along with its tears and laughs in finding the right successor, brought him to an understanding that life was still worth living. A journey to the sea, an encounter with an ex-soldier whom Johan thought would be the right successor, or even simply together attending Johan’s photo stand, really brought life to Johan’s face which was full of griefs at first. Sita, on the other hand, from her taking care of the old man, learned not only about photography, but also the secrets of a man named Johan, about the true meanings of life.

The Photograph was not only touchy and meaningful. Bearing its name, The Photograph was full of excellent camera shots. Every scene screened in this movie held its own meaning. And as Johan said: a photo could tell truths or lies..depending on the taker. and the object itself.

The Kingdom

Just imagine if you were laughing and playing base ball on a sunny day.. That u were living ur dream life…and suddenly a bomb blasted and what you knew next was, u were dead..

This scene started this movie. A western housing area was bombed in Riyadh. Men, women, including children were bombarded with machine guns.

An effort to capture the attacker was blocked with a frustrating bureaucracy and politics. It was resented not only by the terrorist, but also by some American politicians themselves.

An elite FBI team of four went to capture the man behind the attack, who was later known as Abu Hamza. Despite the approval that they got from the prince himself, Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) and his team were only awarded with five days to solve the case. Even worse, they seemed like hitting their head onto a wall. The locals held them back from doing their jobs with a series of rules while they they themselves were not helping at all, as they were not experienced enough with professional investigation method.

With the help from Faris al Ghazi, the captain from the local police, and Haytham, his assistant, Fleury and him team finally started the investigation.

The investigation brought them directly to the killer’s front door, with one “sign” on his hand. As one of their team mate was captured as a hostage, they needed to move fast, risking their own very lives.

Honestly, at first, I thought Faris was also involved in the incident as he was not really helpful in the first time. But Berg was really good. He included a scene filming Faris with his wife and children, showing how Arabian people, who were often associated with terrorism, were human as well. They had families and they underwent a normal life like other normal people.

Ironically, what was interesting was also the words that Fleury and Abu Hamza whispered before his death: Don’t worry son, we’ll kill them all. The Kingdom was actually a story about vengeance, an deadly emotion occupying every man’s heart

Enchanted: Can a fairytale survive in the real world?

Prince charming on a white horse…a beautiful princess with singing birds and talking chipmunks..a bad and evil witch and step mother..
All elements that compose a Disney fairy tale..

But how about all of them come into life?? As in..coming into the real world??

That’s what Disney tried to bring out in its last movie..Enchanted.

A cliche began the story. The evil queen Narissa didn’t want to let go of her throne, not even to her own step son, Prince Edward. So she did anything, with the help of her fooled assistant, Nathaniel, to stop Edward from finding his true love, the queen-to-be.

But no one could stop Edward from meeting Giselle, the forest princess. And with one-day-old love, they’ll get married soon. Happily ever after?? Not yet, as the story started here. So the queen banished Giselle, by sending her to the ‘reality’, to the dirty unfriendly hostile New York..to be exact..to a sewer in New York.

And there was Robert, a divorce attorney who was already pessimistic enough with that ‘happily ever after’ ending, thanks to lessons he got from life, and his soon-to-be-pessimistic daughter (as she was not allowed to believe in fairytales), Morgan. He came to help the lost-in-New York princess. There Robert learned, how sometimes believing in fairy tales was not wrong at all..with a risk of losing his curtains and blanket for Giselle’s cloth..Lol! While Giselle learned that true love could not be grown in a day…But of course, the story finally ended happy, as always, except for the evil queen.

Two thumbs up for Disney, for trying to combine an animated fairy tale with a modern, live action comedy. It’s at least an innovation. However, a couple of the plots were still an adaptation of previous Disney tales, such as The Sleeping Beauty, King Kong, Snow White, and of course Cinderella.

I, myself, don’t really like the movie, though. I don’t know why…but I think I prefer Stardust..One think 4 sure, I love Pip!

What Should My Superpower Be?

Your Superpower Should Be Manipulating Fire

You are intense, internally driven, and passionate. Your emotions are unpredictable – and they often get the better of you. Both radiant and terrifying, people are drawn to you. At your most powerful, you feel like the world belongs to you.Why you would be a good superhero: You are obsessive enough to give it your all Your biggest problem as a superhero: Your moodiness would make it difficult to control your powers http://www.blogthings.com/whatshouldyoursuperpowerbequiz/

Hmm, I do expect myself of having a superpower…wont it be cool? ;p But I dont think this ’superpower’ thing really reflects myself….Well I am moody..sometimes..But I never view myself as being radiant, terrifying, and unpredictable… Humpph…I even think sometimes I am way too predictable…..