The Swan Lake

Waktu aq masi di bangku SD, aq suka banget baca komik, biasanya komik-komik Jepang seperti Candy-Candy, Pop Corn, dll. Salah satu yang aq ingat adalah komik Sepatu Kaca. Yep, it’s all about ballet. Dan salah satu lakon yang paling berkesan buatQ adalah Swan Lake.


Correct me if i’m wrong, Swan Lake sendiri bercerita tentang seorang putri bernama Odeth yang jatuh cinta pada seorang pangeran. Namun karena kutukan dari seorang penyihir jahat, dan ia menjadi seekor angsa. Ia dapat kembali menjadi manusia kembali bila ada seseorang yang menyatakan cinta kepadanya. Sayangnya, sang pangeran kemudian jatuh cinta kepada saudarinya, Odil, atau si angsa hitam. Dan karena patah hati, Odeth pun bunuh diri. Cerita yang indah namun berakhir tragis.




Dalam ballet, peran Odil justru lebih sulit dilakukan. Karakternya hitam, licik, sekaligus memikat. Sementara Odeth digambarkan sebagai putri yang lemah lembut. Ada satu gerakan Odil yang aq ingat sampai sekarang, dimana penarinya harus berputar berkali-kali (32 kali putaran kalo ga salah) dengan ujung kakinya.




Cerita The Swan Lake ini kemudian menjadi tema yang diangkat dalam film Black Swan yang diperankan oleh Natalie Portman dan Mila Kunis. Awalnya aq berpikir akan menonton film drama biasa dengan persaingan ala remaja ABG yang memperebutkan peran utama dalam pertunjukan itu. Tapi ternyata, film ini jauh lebih kompleks. Di film ini, akting Natalie Portman layak diacungin jempol. Dia bisa bermain dengan karakter yang berbeda-beda, layaknya orang yang berkepribadian ganda. Ia berhasil memerankan gadis balerina yang obsesif, sekaligus labil dan rapuh, dan tak lupa, adegan lesbiannya bersama Mila Kunis. Semuanya diwarnai dengan gerakan-gerakan balet yang gemulai, kostum yang indah, dan tata rias yang mendukungnya. Kabarnya, Natalie Portman harus berlatih khusus selama 6 bulan, 5 jam setiap harinya, agar bisa menari balet layaknya seorang balerina profesional. Hasilnya ga sia-sia kan, penampilannya sangat memukau dan nyaris tanpa cela. Ga heran, melalui film ini Portman layak mendapatkan 12 penghargaan bergengsi sebagai aktris terbaik, sekaligus mengantarkannya ke piala Oscar pertamanya.

Oia, film ini juga dibintangi oleh aktris Winona Ryder. Sebagai aktris pendukung dalam film itu, aktingnya pun tak perlu diragukan lagi. Ia berperan sebagai balerina senior yang depresi karena kariernya yang berakhir di puncak kepopulerannya.

What I love more from this movie are the costume and make up.Semuanya tampak terkonsep dan dipersiapkan secara matang. Rumit, detil, namun tetap cantik dan berkarakter.

Tapi, buat aq yang penakut ini, butuh perjuangan buat nonton film ini. Buatq, film ini terlalu banyak darah!!! Bukan darah yang berceceran seperti layaknya film action atau horor, melainkan luka-luka yang mudah kamu temui sehari-hari, seperti tergores, luka saat memotong kuku, dll. Semua itu ditampilkan secara detil melalui extreme shotnya, sampai buat aq merinding dan eneg bersamaan.

Tapi terlepas dari itu semua, kelak kalau aq punya anak, aq ga mau dia ikut balet. It’s beautiful to see, but it’s painful at the same time

Burlesque

I love this movie!!! Biasanya aq tidak terlalu suka film musikal, namun di film ini, Christina Aquilera dan Cher berhasil membuatku jatuh cinta dengan film ini. Urusan suara, teknik dan karakter dari kedua diva ini tentu saja ga perlu diragukan lagi. Namun konflik yang ditampilkan pas, jadi ga nyanyi-nyanyi melulu.

Konsep cabaret yang mewarnai film ini pun keren banget. Aq bisa bilang, untuk seorang diva seperti Christina pun harus berusaha keras untuk menguasai koreografi yang banyak dan rumit, sekaligus sexy yang ditampilkan sepanjang film ini. Apalagi, pada dasaranya Christina bukanlah a dancing singer layaknya Britney Spears yang bernyanyi dan menari dalam setiap performance-nya selama ini. Ya, kalaupun ada beberapa lagunya yang up beat dan full dance, ga seheboh Britney lah.


Aq suka konsep cabaret-nya, dari koreografi, make up, kostum semuanya kereeennn!!!! Christina, yang dalam film itu berperan sebagai Ali, seolah-olah berubah-ubah dalam tema cabaret yang dimainkannya. Satu saat ia menjadi wanita yang genit, di saat yang lain ia menjadi wanita sexy yang menggoda. Para penari lainnya pun patut mendapat acungan jempol. Mereka kompak, dan bisa menampilkan feel yang ingin disampaikan dari setiap tarian yang mereka tampilkan.




Dan konsep cabaret itu tentu saja didukung oleh tata lampu, property, dan tentu saja, suara Christina Aquilera dan Cher yang dahsyat. Duuuhhh....jadi pengen liat pentas Broadway secara langsung nih...

Our Marriage, Their Wedding

Baru aja nonton film "Our Family Wedding" on DVD, yang dibintangi ma Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King dan Lance Gross. Film ini sebenernya standar film drama comedy Hollywood biasa, tapi ada satu hal menarik yang pengen aq bahas disini. Film ini bercerita tentang sepasang kekasih yang akan menikah. Konfliknya justru dari pihak kedua keluarga, yang akhirnya juga berpengaruh pada kedua calon mempelai.

Baik di Indonesia maupun di negara maju seperti Amerika Serikat pun, keluarga memegang peranan besar dalam suatu persiapan pernikahan. Sebut saja, penentuan adat tradisi yang akan dijalankan, penentuan hari, bahkan sampai ke pemilihan busana dan makanan yang akan dihidangkan. Semua angota keluarga turut sibuk dan terlibat dalam persiapan pernikahan itu. Tak jarang apa yang menjadi keinginan kedua calon mempelai bertentangan dengan keinginan keluarga besarnya. Misalnya, keinginan pasangan untuk menyelenggarakan resepsi yang sederhana, bertentangan dengan keinginan keluarga yang menginginkan sebuah pesta yang besar dan mewah. Keduanya nggak ada yang salah sih. Bagi pasangan yang akan menikah, pertimbangan biaya tentu menjadi alasan utama. Namun bagi keluarga, terutama di Indonesia, sebuah pernikahan adalah sebuah prestise sekaligus menjadi perayaan bagi keluarga besarnya. "our marriage, their wedding", pernikahan bagi pasangan, tapi perayaan bagi keluarga.

Nah, yang menjadi masalah kalo konflik kepentingan antara pasangan dan keluarga akhirnya berpengaruh pada hubungan pasangan itu sendiri. Ada beberapa teman yang pernah curhat ke aq, gimana stresnya mereka saat mempersiapkan pernikahan. Masalah model gaun pengantin pun bisa jadi masalah besar, bila orang tua setuju, tapi mamak atau uwak ngga setuju, apa boleh buat. Nah, tekanan dari sana sini itulah yang akhrnya menimbulkan ketegangan bagi calon mempelai, dan bisa mempengaruhi hubungan mereka. Sayang kan...

Aq sendiri memang belum pernah mengalaminya, tapi mungkin kalau aq di posisi itu, butuh kesabaran ekstra dan kompromi dari masing-masing pihak kali ya, biar semua senang semua lancar :)

Upcoming Movie: Green Zone

Release date(s):March 12, 2010 (2010-03-12)

Directed by:Paul Greengrass

Produced by:Tim Bevan
Eric Fellner
Lloyd Levin
Paul Greengrass

Written by: Brian Helgeland
Rajiv Chandrasekaran (Book)

Starring:Matt Damon
Greg Kinnear
Brendan Gleeson
Amy Ryan
Khalid Abdalla
Jason Isaacs

Cinematography:Barry Ackroyd

Editing by:Christopher Rouse

Studio :StudioCanal
Relativity Media
Working Title Films

Distributed by:Universal Studios


Country:United States

Language:English

Budget:$100 million

Story:

Green Zone is an action thriller war film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film is "credited as having been 'inspired' by"[1] the non-fiction 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which documented life in the Green Zone, Baghdad. The film stars Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson. Production began in January 2008 in Spain and moved on to Morocco. The film was globally released on March 12, 2010 with releases available from March 10 in some countries. Released in Australia on 11 March 2010.

All the war-zone authenticity in the Arab world cannot salvage the silly Hollywood plot at the heart of "Green Zone," Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass' first collaboration outside the Jason Bourne realm.

Their thriller about the futile search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is a visual and visceral knockout that's utterly deflated by a story as common, coarse and unappetizing as Army field rations.

The movie pales further by arriving in theaters just days after the Academy Awards triumph of the vastly superior Iraq war story "The Hurt Locker," a film many people have yet to see. For the price of a couple of tickets to "Green Zone," you can own the DVD of a truly great war film in "The Hurt Locker." "Green Zone" emulates the let's-build-a-democracy-just-like-ours intent of the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2003, as chronicled in Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," a book cited in the credits as the inspiration for the movie.

Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland have taken a setting rich with novel dramatic possibilities and made up a fictional action tale just like any other, with the same lame plot contrivances and the same stiff, artificial characters.

You've got the incorruptible working-class patriot in Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon), who leads a WMD team frustrated that detailed intelligence reports continually fail to turn up any traces of Saddam Hussein's supposed arsenals.

You've got the sniveling, scheming bureaucrat in Pentagon intelligence man Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) and an internecine clash with his honorable nemesis in CIA man Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson). OK, so the CIA good guy thing is kind of new. You've got the cliched journalist in Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan), who seems incapable of piecing together a story unless it's handed to her in a neat folder marked "top secret."

And you've got the Special Forces thug in Lt. Col. Briggs (Jason Isaacs).

We all know now the weapons that prompted the invasion of Iraq did not exist. The filmmakers concoct a simple-minded WMD conspiracy to explain the bad intelligence reports, then lob Miller into the middle of it.

Miller's encounter with well-meaning Iraqi "Freddy" (Khalid Abdalla, who played one of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Greengrass' "United 93") leads him to one of Saddam's top aides, who holds the key to exposing the conspiracy.

Other than Abdalla, who captures a sense of Iraqis' conflicted emotions over Saddam's overthrow and the U.S. occupation, Damon and his co-stars deliver nothing more than serviceable performances. The roles do not call for much more, Ryan in particular stuck trying to make her few shallow lines sound meaningful. The WMD debacle was a colossal intelligence failure that Greengrass and company dilute to a base Hollywood plot device so they can turn the boys loose in Baghdad with all the firepower a big studio budget can muster.

There's barely a story to hold "Green Zone" together, the movie just hurtling through firefights and chases, pausing for breath with the occasional revelation to prod Miller on in his quest.

For pure ambiance, "Green Zone" is a marvel. Though shot in Morocco, Spain and England, the action feels as though it takes place in the heart of Baghdad.

Greengrass, who directed Damon in "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "The Bourne Supremacy," applies similar techniques — darting camera work, quick cutting, haphazard framing — to create the same sense of documentary immediacy in "Green Zone."

How did Hurt Locker beat Avatar at Oscars?

For Hollywood pundits, industry folk and Oscar fans still paying attention on Monday, a major question remained: How did Hurt Locker beat Avatar?

For as much as "The Hurt Locker" was the critics' darling, it had three major strikes against it in its battle against the mighty James Cameron's "Avatar."

First, the box office was paltry — it's taken in just $14.7 million domestically, compared to an amazing $720.6 million for "Avatar." That makes "The Hurt Locker" the lowest-grossing best picture winner since accurate records have been kept.

Second, it had no big acting names, usually an important factor in Oscar victory.

And third, it was about the Iraq war, a subject moviegoers traditionally just don't want to deal with. "Iraq is usually the kiss of death at the Oscars," says Tom O'Neil, blogger for the Los Angeles Times' Envelope, an awards site.

But even with 10 nominees in the running for this year's best picture Oscar, the two films — whose directors were once married — were quickly pitted against each other in the race for Hollywood's highest honor.

How did "The Hurt Locker" win out? Theories abound:

Finally a non-political film about Iraq
Many films about the Iraq war have fallen into a trap of appearing preachy or at least having a strong point of view. Viewers may or may not agree with that view — that still doesn't mean they want to get it at the movies.

But "The Hurt Locker," a story of three technicians on a bomb-defusing team in Baghdad, is at heart an action movie — a documentary-style close-up of the men, their relationships, their missteps and the almost unbearable tension inherent in their exhausting, terrifying, tedious work.

"This isn't that kind of muckraking film aiming to show torture or violation of rules of war," says Robert Sklar, film professor at New York University. "This is a film about men trying to save lives rather than take them. It's also a buddy story. It has classic war-movie themes."

Oscar likes films with an important message
Often the Academy honors big, sweeping films, which "The Hurt Locker" is certainly not. But it also looks for films with a substantial message. "Oscar likes films of importance, with a capital I," says film historian Leonard Maltin. "Often they're big films, but this is a small film that dealt with a really important subject."

Oscar voters don't care about box office
Who says Oscar cares about box office? "The Oscars don't pay attention to that at all, and nor should they," Maltin says. In fact, he adds, they've often been accused of being too elitist, favoring independent movies over big films favored by the broader public.

Yes, they do!
Nonsense, says O'Neil, of The Envelope: "The Academy wants their movies to do well. Then they anoint them." Even last year's "Slumdog Millionaire," which originally almost went straight to DVD, had made $40 million before the nominations, then rode to $70 million by the time of the awards, he says.

It's about the campaigning
All of "Hurt Locker's" technical merit aside, "it would be naive to think Oscar campaigning had nothing to do with it," says O'Neil. He credits Cynthia Swartz, whose public relations firm was given the Oscar campaigning job by Summit, the film's distributor, which was looking for industry respect and had plenty of money to fund the campaign, having already cashed in with the "Twilight" vampire movies.

"It was a very savvy campaign," says O'Neil. "Full force, and highly aggressive."

The woman factor
As compelling as her movie was, director Kathryn Bigelow had a compelling story of her own. This director who specializes not in female-oriented films but in big action thrillers had a real shot at becoming the first woman in Oscar history to win the best director prize, with her film winning best picture, too.

Yet Bigelow tried to downplay that element of her story, saying in interviews that she just wanted to be seen as a filmmaker, not a female one.

"Bigelow refused to capitalize on the woman factor, and to her credit," says Maltin. Everyone else wanted to make it a story but her. Still, you can't deny it had some impact."

The ex factor
Nor did Bigelow have any desire to capitalize on the "Ex Factor" — in case you're way behind on your Oscar gossip, she was married to Cameron from 1989-91. Were there some voters who were secretly rooting for her to leave him in the dust? No way of knowing, and the two seemed amicable through the awards season, with him standing and cheering as she won her Oscar. Still, there's no doubt that the "battle of the exes" (ok, we're done with the puns) added to the hype.

Smart Cartoon Movie

Udah nonton film UP????
great movie you have to watch!!!

Sebenernya pesan moral yang mau disampaikan cukup berat. Drama, adventure, fantasy and comedy in one movie. Dilema antara kepentingan pribadi n kewajiban untuk menolong mahluk lain, drama cinta pertama, semuanya dikemas dalam satu film komedi yang smart banget. Pesan moral yang pengen disampaikan jadi nggak terasa berat or menggurui.

My favorite character is Russel, the 8-year-old boyscout. Polos, jahil, kocak, dan menggemaskan. Sifatnya itu cukup merepotkan Mr. Fredricksen yang kolot banget.

Di satu sisi, kepolosan dan keingintahuan khas anak kecil seringkali membuat dia terlibat dalam masalah. Tapi perhatian n rasa sayang ma lingkungan yang dia punyai, seringkali dilupakan ma orang-orang dewasa sekarang ini.

Hayo ngaku....seberapa care si kita ma binatang terlantar di jalan, sementara kita sendiri punya kepentingan penting lain yang mesti dilakukan??? Aku yakin nggak semua orang peduli bahkan mau nolongin binatang itu kan???

Oia, satu lagi, walaupun film kartun, tapi teknik editingnya keren banget. Soooo smooth!!! Transisi antar waktu yang halus banget dari momen yang berbeda, tanpa mengganggu alur cerita yang disampaikan...
Teknik editing ini mirip dengan teknik yang dipake di Slumdog Millionaire, walopun teteup...Slumdog juaranya, jauh lebih complicated (maap....bahasanya teknis broadcast banget, hehehehe....)

Playboy

Barusan makan ma temen-temen sekantor, n kita ngobrolin soal playboy di indonesia dari masa ke masa. Coba kita runut yaaa...

Yang pertama pastinya "om" Roy Marten doooonk.... Artis yang satu ini emang Playboy pada eranya. Aku sempet nonton filmnya yang diputer ulang di TV, kalo ngga salah film "Badai Pasti Berlalu" yg ada Christine Hakim-nya juga. Pada jamannya dulu, dia itu ganteng banget euy...menurutku kesan cowok jahil jaman dulu membuatnya makin menarik, hehehehe...

Kalo aktor watak yang satu ini, aku menyebutnya "The Real Bad Boy Ever". Mungkin dia sama aja playboynya ma Roy Marten, tapi dia "play underground". U know what i mean...dia "bermain" cerdas. Ngga perlu show off ke orang laen, tapi berenteng dah ceweknya (or korbannya, hehehehe...). Bahkan imejnya itu masih melekat sampai sekarang. Kalo kalian inget, perannya hampir mirip-mirip kan, misalnya di video klip Dewi-Dewi, "Begitu Salah Begitu Benar", n juga peran di film "Berbagi Suami". Tu kan,,,walopun tau dia tipe cowok player, cewek-cewek sekarang juga masi banyak yang kesengsem =p

Nah, kalo yang ini, aku masi sempet nonton film-filmnya dulu. Gara-gara film ini, Ongky Alexander jadi ikon playboy era itu. Di film ini dia jadi tokoh yang menurutku terlalu perfect; ganteng, tajir, playboy, taat beribadah, dll. Ga heran donk, jadi banyak fans-nya. Too perfect as a human being, i think. But not my type, actually, hehehehe... Tapi kalo diinget-inget, pas aku nonton film-filmnya, lebih karena pengen nonton karakter Si Emon, dibandingkan Si Boy =D

Oia, dalam obrolan kita tadi, sempet kesebut juga nama-nama laennya kayak Donny Damara n Rano Karno. Tapi ngga aku tulis disini ya, ngga terlalu menarik buat dibahas, sih, hehehe...

Nah kalo di era 90-an, dulu sempet ada Alm. Ryan Hidayat, a bad boy yang selalu cool n bikin cewek-cewek histeris, ya ga??

Tapi kalo dipikir-pikir, ko agak susah ya menyebut playboy-playboy era 2000an?? Kalopun ada, menurutku, ngga ada yg imejnya melekat banget seperti artis-artis di atas. Selain itu, kebanyakan cuma gosip-gosip yang di-blow up di infotainment aja.

Jadi, ada yang mau menambah list playboy di atas???? =p

Sadis !!!

Satu kata yang aku bilang soal film ini: SADIS !!!!
Terlalu banyak adegan-adegan sadis yang hampir membuat aku (sorry..) "jackpot". Kayaknya nyawa orang ngga ada harganya, tembak sana, bacok sini, potong sana, sayat sini. Hoeeeeekkk.....
Overall, it's below my expectation. It's just a common Hong Kong movie with typical conflict and romance.
Dan satu hal lagi, mungkin karena faktor "U" (he looks old, anyway), aku ngga liat aksi Jackie Chan seperti di film-film sebelumnya. Yah, maklum, udah opa-opa =)

Laskar Pelangi, The Real Potrait of Indonesian Education

"Kejarlah pelangimu sampai ke ujung langit. Jangan pernah menyerah"

That's my favorite quote that ends Laskar Pelangi The Movie. Along with my family, finally I've watched it. It's a great family movie, though my friends said the book is more complete and detail. Of course it is, i think, as they can't put all the story on the script, isn't it? Just like other movies based on book, 'aight?

It's not only funny, touchy, but also entertaining. There are some moral points in this movie, such as friendship and also struggle for your dreams. The story is so real. It is the real portrait of Indonesian education in rural area. There's one scene i most remember, that is when the students in Muhammadiyah Elementary School have their math subject using "lidi", while in another school the students get new calculators FOR FREE!!! It's so contrast...but it happens 'till now.

Correct me if i'm wrong, in a big and modern town like Jakarta (and maybe other town in Indonesia), you may see students in a big and popular school enjoy any facilities, like swimming pool, sport court, computer, etc. While in other part of Jakarta, some students must work hard to buy the books and work to help their parents in the same time.

It's so ironic!!!

Laskar Pelangi

mimpi adalah kunci
untuk kita menaklukkan dunia
berlarilah tanpa lelah
sampai engkau meraihnya

laskar pelangi takkan terikat waktu
bebaskan mimpimu di angkasa
warnai bintang di jiwa

reff:
menarilah dan terus tertawa
walau dunia tak seindah surga
bersyukurlah pada Yang Kuasa
cinta kita di dunia selamanya

cinta kepada hidup
memberikan senyuman abadi
walau hidup kadang tak adil
tapi cinta lengkapi kita

laskar pelangi takkan terikat waktu
jangan berhenti mewarnai
jutaan mimpi di bumi

repeat reff [2x]

laskar pelangi takkan terikat waktu


Have ever heard this song? Yup, it's one of the original soundtracks of Laskar Pelangi movie. I haven't watched the movie, actually. But i love this song since i heard it at the first time (i heard it when Nidji performed live at one of TV show!!!). Not only because i love 'em, but just check the lyric, it has deep meaning and easy listening at the same time. It gives me positive spirit to be more optimist to face all things in the world, and never give up though everythings are not running as we want. So, Keep Rockin' The World !!!