Before Sunrise (1995) - Before Sunset (2004)

I am about to review two movies in this one go. It consists of two sequels that were released separated by 9 years intervals. The first one is Before Sunrise. The second one is Before Sunset.
These movies complement a thorough roots and history of a human connection and widely praising its formation, frontally observed and oversaw the getting closer proximity of the distance between two people as they get along and understand each other’s world and subconsciously seeping its substance, to fill and create another temporary world existing for them to inhabit and how the limited time are no binding boundary to truly connects to someone, celebrating anomaly of life as it passes. These are movies that would engage you in the exchanging of ideas, point of view, daily routine story of life, an intimate yet casual conversation between Jesse and Celine, of whom accidentally met on a train embarking to Vienna with different destinations in each mind.
Before Sunrise(1995) : Jesse was an American student coming to Spain to visit his long-distance girlfriend while Celine, a French young woman just returned from visiting her grandmother in Budapest. Both were sitting in the same train compartment as the public quarrel between a German couple erupted and had Celine moved to a seat opposing Jesse’s. Both instantly felt a connection and a long conversation flourished. In each mind, a short acquaintance is to be ended not sooner than the timely halt of the train in Vienna as Jesse had to catch the flight to America in that very night. Jesse’s adventurous spirit immediately asked Celine to alight the train and roaming the city of Vienna together until Jesse’s flight is about to depart. After a brief moment of persuasion, Celine agreed to the idea and the approval has brought to the adventure of those two strangers. The two separated with the abounding hope as they promised to meet again 6 months afterward in Paris.
Before Sunset(2004) : It’s been 9 years since Jesse and Celine first met. The promise made 9 years ago to meet again was not substantiated. Now they meet again, only this time Jesse had become an author and already got married with a kid, while Celine has actualized her passion in social politic and becoming a non-governmental activist. The reunion took place while Jesse was holding his book launching on his last tour in Paris. The two decided to spare the limited time to reconnect, finding the essential not much changed as if the time hasn’t yet relapsed 9 years since. The film closes the curtain with the undecided ending of the two, leaving the audience with a question we ourselves has to answer through speculation.
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From every aspect, these movies are both exciting and unique. It does not do the usual cliché to segregate the phase of movie into sections of a different nature before the climax reached. Every second spent filming the movie was simply indispensable. You missed one screen-shot due to accidentally falling into sleep for only 5 minutes, you would have missed the best part which from my point of view embedded in every running seconds of the movie. You have to keep yourself alert from the very beginning until the very end because the whole content of a movie itself is a real journey, not a journey/adventure told from the angle of a cinematography. Particularly for the sequel, Before Sunset, the screenplay was credited and penned not only by the director, Richard Linklater, but also by the leading actors. The sense of reality is astoundingly felt in a high degree. The script is highly praised as it is thought-provoking and built around the deep feeling and giving us the rare chance to become acquainted, feel the sense of belonging and familiarity with the characters of these movies . The acting is vividly, realistically spectacular. It is not a romantically-based movie with a guessable happy ending, intrigues, and drama-drama-drama at each ends but simply showcasing the romance as it is. There is no sugarcoating it.
Before Sunrise was released in 1995, starring Ethan Hawke( The Dead Poet Society, The Day Breaker, New York, I Love You!) opposite a French actress-singer-songwriter-director, Julie Delpy who might internationally be best known for her role in these movies . The upcoming third sequel, Before Midnight will be released in 2013. Richard Linklater himself was inspired to write, produce, and direct the movie after his encounter with a woman named Amy who walked around the city of Philadelphia with him one night, conversing. It shows, sometimes, the impact one gives does not necessarily involves the elongated period of time but a brief truthful moment yet it is so rare, can overcome a lot. (NA)

Perahu Kertas Part 1 (2012)

Perahu kertas itu bercerita tentang perjalanan hidup & cinta dari Kugy dan Keenan. Mereka berdua pertama kali ketemu waktu sama-sama kuliah dibandung. Keenan mahasiswa ekonomi yang sebenarnya berjiwa pelukis sedangkan Kugy mahasiswa sastra yang bercita-cita jadi penulis dongeng. Keenan terkesan dengan Kugy karena Kugy orangnya aneh apalagi dengan radar neptunusnya itu sedangkan Kugy terkesan dengan keenan karena menurut Kugy, Keenan itu orang ajaib yang sudah menyadarkan dia kalau cita-cita jadi penulis dongeng itu sangat realistis. Tapi ternyata jalan Kugy dan Keenan masih harus berputar karena Kugy sendiri sudah punya pacar namanya Ojos, sedangkan Keenan di comblangin sm sepupunya Noni ( sahabat Kugy ) yang namanya Wanda. Wanda anak pemilik galeri wasita dan Wanda suka sama Keenan sementara Keenan nya sendiri belum kasih pernyataan apapun ke Wanda. Melihat kedekatan Keenan dan Wanda membuat Kugy menjauh. Menjauh dari Noni, Eko ( sahabat Kugy yang jg pacar Noni ) dan pastinya menjauh dari Keenan termasuk juga dari Ojos. Suatu malam minggu dimana Ojos datang ke Bandung buat ketemu Kugy, biasanya mereka asyik ngobrol tapi kali ini Kugy hanya diam dan mendengarkan Ojos karena Kugy merasa ada yg berubah. Kata Kugy di dalam hati waktu lagi makan sama Ojos sambil melihat foto mereka berempat ( Eko, Noni, Kugy, dan Keenan ), "Mungkin aku yang berubah atau lingkungan aku yang berubah atau kedua-duanya yang berubah." Dan Kugy menutup gambar wajah Eko dan Noni di foto itu dengan jarinya. Kugy menyibukkan diri nya menjadi guru di Sakolah Alit ( Sekolah Darurat ) sampai-sampai hubungan Kugy dan Ojos harus berakhir karna Kugy disuruh memilih antara pergi ke Bali bareng Ojos atau mendampingi anak-anak Sekolah Alit yang akan ikut berlomba.

Wanda berhasil membujuk orangtuanya untuk mengikutsertakan lukisan Keenan dalam pameran di Wasita Gallery. Saat hari pagelaran, orangtua Keenan datang tapi Ayah Keenan tidak mau melihat lukisan Keenan karena pada dasarnya ayah Keenan kurang setuju anaknya jadi pelukis karena dia ingin anaknya kuliah ekonomi untuk meneruskan bisnis mereka. Keenan merasa senang karena mengetahui lukisanyna laku terjual sampai Keenan memutuskan untuk keluar dari kuliah dan pergi dari rumah karena di usir ayahnya. Ulang tahun Noni dirayakan di halaman rumah Wanda dan hal itu yang membuat Kugy tidak bisa datang sedangkan di sana lah Keenan tahu kalau Wanda lah yang membeli lukisannya dan itu membuat Keenan marah. Keenan memutuskan untuk berhenti melukis. Kugy yang tahu menjadi marah. Kugy dan Keenan terlibat perdebatan. Keenan memutuskan untuk pindah ke bali dan menetap di rumah Pak Wayan (pelukis asal Bali ). Hubungan persahabatan Kugy dan Noni pun menjadi renggang karna Noni merasa kesal kenapa Kugy tidak datang ke pesta ulang tahunnya. Di bali, Keenan bertemu dengan Luhde ( keponakan Pak Wayan ). Luhde lah yang membangkitkan semangat Keenan untuk melukis lagi dan Keenan melukis berdasarkan buku dongeng yang ditulis Kugy. Waktu terus bergulir, Keenan dan Luhde pun menjadi dekat sedangkan Kugy telah lulus sarjana dan magang di kantor advertising dan kemudian diangkat menjadi karyawan karna ide briliantnya. Berkat ide briliantnya itulah Kugy menjadi dekat dengan Remi ( bos Kugy di kantor yang sangat di gandrungi oleh perempuan satu kantor ). Akhirnya Kugy dan Remi pun jadian. Hubungan Kugy dan Noni yang tadinya mejauh pun jadi dekat kembali karna Noni pun akhirnya tahu alasan Kugy mengapa tidak datang ke ultah nya noni. Pada saat pernikahan Noni dan Eko, disanalah Kugy akhirnya bertemu dengan Keenan lagi setelah sekian lama mereka berpisah .

“Perahu kertas salah satu film Indonesia yang bisa di bilang punya 'kelas' berbeda dengan film-film Indonesia lain yang marak di bioskop. Sinematografi, naskah film, akting pemainnya menurut saya tepat meskipun ada beberapa adegan yang ada di novel namun ditiadakan di film “

 ★★★★☆ SDG

One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

One Direction, gokil banget nih boyband!!! Denger-denger nih yaaa...boyband asal Inggris-Irlandia ini lagi jadi sensasi karena lagu mereka masuk ke tangga Billboard Amerika dan langsung menempati posisi ke-26. Rekor ini mengalahkan The Beatles, grup musik dari Inggris yang masuk ke jajaran Billboard Amerika pada tahun 1964 dan menempati posisi ke-45.

Single pertama mereka, "What Makes You Beautiful" dirilis tanggal 11 September 2011. Single ini berhasil bertengger di posisi pertama UK Singles Chart setelah dinobatkan sebagai single yang paling banyak di request sepanjang masa oleh Sony Music Entertainment. Di tangga lagu Irlandia, single ini berada di posisi pertama selama empat minggu berturut-turut. Di Amerika Serikat, single ini dirilis pada Februari 2012, dan memulai debutnya pada posisi 28 di Billboard Hot 100, posisi tertinggi bagi musisi asal inggris sejak tahun 1997. Single ini terus naik hingga ke posisi empat dan tanggal 21 Mei 2012, sebanyak 2.060.303 unduhan digital single ini telah terjual di AS. Single ini juga pernah dinyanyikan ulang di salah satu episode dalam serial TV populer AS, Glee.

Single ini telah berhasil mendapatkan sertifikasi 5x Platinum di AUS, 2x Platinum di CAN, 2x Platinum di NZ, 1x Platinum di SWE, dan 2x Platinum di US. Selain itu Single ini juga memenangkan Best British Single di BRIT Awards dan masuk kedalam nominasi Most Streamed Video of The Year di MunchMusic Video Awards.


GPM

Across The Universe (2007)

Across The Universe






As me and my friend listened to one of The Beatles's songs, I popped out a question of what to be reviewed next. My friend thought and stumbled a while but seemingly as he was being carried away with the music listened to, he came up with an idea for me to make a film review about a musical, historical-related drama concerning America's turmoil in 1960-1970's. The movie revolved around a multi-fold circumstance happened in America during this period of time: dreaming and try pursuing a war-free world and race&gender equality through movements of freedom led actively by college students with the backdrop of a chaotic Vietnam War and ornamented by a colourful,eccentric and laissez-faire way of life adopted by Hippie communities. We also are about to be drawn in a 33 original compositions of Beatles's songs all penned originally by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr between the period of 1962-1967. This musical drama arranges the 33 legendary pieces of The Beatles song as an essential conjugator of the storyline.

Storyline :
The story opened up with Jude(Jim Sturgess)sang his heart out, looking devastated and wondered about a girl concerning her whereabouts. The story immediately flashes back, showcasing his life as a Liverpool shipyard worker(blue collar)wondering for his father who has abandoned him when he was still an unborn baby. He illegally came to U.S in search of his father while along the way, restoring his passion in painting as a freelance artist. Switch places to America, Lucy(Evan Rachel Wood) was a sweet girl facing the reality that her boyfriend is about to be enlisted in the military army serving US combat in the Vietnam war. Then there was Prudence from Ohio who was smitten by a girl and having a rough time accepting her condition. Move to another scene, there was Sadie, a struggling,rocking, star quality vocalist and JoJo whose brother was accidentally murdered in Detroit's 1967 racial clash before eventually decided to move out to Greenwich-New York, to collect his scattered life. Also there was Max, a rebellious Princeton university law student who had a different idea about how life should be conducted and his ongoing struggle with the family that did not understand his Hippie-impressed way of life. All of them mingled together, discover something together, and found an antidote in each other company in a different way.

Trivia:
The 33 Beatles original songs featured sequentially in the movie are as listed below:
1. "Girl"
2. "Helter Skelter"
3. "Hold Me Tight"
4. "All My Loving"
5. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
6. "With a Little Help from My Friends"
7. "It Won't Be Long"
8. "I've Just Seen a Face"
9. "Let It Be"
10. "Come Together"
11. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
12. "If I Fell"
13. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
14. "Dear Prudence"
15. "Flying" instrumental(composed by Ringo Starr)
16. "Blue Jay Way"
17. "I Am the Walrus"
18. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
19. "Because"
20. "Something"
21. "Oh! Darling"
22. "Strawberry Fields Forever"
23. "Revolution"
24. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
25. "Across the Universe"
26. "And I Love Her"
27. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
28. "A Day in the Life"
29 "Blackbird"
30. "Hey Jude"
31."Don't Let Me Down"
32. "All You Need Is Love"
33. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
All song were re-sung by the leading roles ( Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood,Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, T.V Carpio )including one song("I am the Walrus) performed by Bono-U2. The negative film-effect seen on this part("I am the Walrus" being sung) was a mere symbolic phase of what most sacred to Hippie communities during the time: a hazardous, mind-wrecking LSD(Lysergic Acid Diethylamide). Cannabis are widely known to have this particular psychedelic/hallucinogenic effect.

The movie only scored half out of full score from critics and earned a below-budget earnings, even though the movie was nominated as Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy in 65th Golden Globe Award. From my perspective though, this movie is worth pursuing to be seen.

Insight:
There are no freedom in a freedom that is executed too much. Living up the dream is one thing, how we do it is what defines it.
--quoted--
Uncle Teddy: Because, Maxwell, what you do defines who you are.
Max: No, Uncle Teddy. Who you are defines what you do. Right Jude?
Jude: [awkward] ... Well, surely it's not what you do, but the, uh... the way that you do it.
--quoted--
Live freely and execute responsibly. By the end of a movie, discern again to the sentence quoted above to create a chill effect. =D

P.S : Thanks to a friend, DU, who has sparked my willing to draft this movie review.
Lastly and hopefully this Beatles's song-inspired movie will carry you all away as well.(NA)

The Painted Veil (2006)

“Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people.”

For a heart-wrenching night, this movie is to be rated 8 out of 10 as a fine getaway to bury us in a gravity of sad adventure before eventually plunging ourselves into a phase of heavy sighs of relief after letting every bitter emotion out of our overburdened feeling due to holdbacks. In hindsight, this chosen movie reviewed will knock a touchdown on anyone who is in the spirit of remembering how is it feel to be regretting over something and reflecting the blessing with what have been decided and had in the present moment.

Storyline:
It's 1920 and Kitty, a lonely socialite deprived by the situation which not suited her vivacious, vacuous, and above the company attitude, met Dr. Walter Fane, a bacteriologist who was instantly falling for her impeccable charms and immediately asked her hand for marriage and as a consequence, Kitty was faced with myriad of confusion due to her obnoxious family wanting to pair her off as immediately as they could possibly do. She accepted the proposal, reluctantly and started experiencing the chain effect of her decision. She was to be taken to the centre of China as Dr Walter Fane was going to be stationed there as an infectious disease researcher in a government lab. Every imagination, aspiration, and definition of happiness to her naturally ceased away as she was brought back to reality. Embarking to China, she met Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber), a dazzling British consulate who ended up having an affair with of which known to her devoted husband. Devastated by his wife’s adultery, Dr. Walter Fane, in the spirit of vengeance, accepted to be transferred and stationed in the remote village of China, where a cholera outbreak was currently highly spreading and had diminished nearly half the population. Feeling secluded and accompanied only by a language-restricted Chinese widow; Chinese officer in charge to protect her from the ambush of the Nationalist; children and nuns from French convent; it was a struggle with her inner self, the unfamiliar circumstance, and the unintentional discovery about where happiness actually is. Her perception about life, love, and forgiveness forever changed.

Insight:
From every centre point of angle, this movie defines a sad irony of life which shall always be entangled with a sheer bitter-sweet kind of longing in the final phase. Sometimes, we want something that we cannot be having anymore; It’s like knocking at the door that has not yet been locked up but as we opened it, the person as our reason for knocking has long been gone. This is the movie that is about to give you that kind of a grapping sense of loss and regret, which cannot be undone, erased, or forgotten.

Info/Trivia:
Painted Veil showcases Edward Norton( The Illusionist, Fight Club, & The Bourne Legacy) and Naomi Watts( King Kong and Mulholland Drive) as the leading roles consummated with this dysfunctional relationship. Directed by John Curran who was once cooperated with Watts in the 2004 movie- We don’t live here anymore- this movie is based on the novel with the same name authored by W. Somerset Maugham in 1925 and has been screened for the third time, once in 1937 showcasing legendary actress, Greta Garbo. This movie has earned Alexandre Desplat ( French film composer arranging the original soundtrack of “The Ides of March”, “The Tree of Life”, “ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”—of which all of them either won or nominated to receive honorary awards in moving-image business ) his first Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.(NA)

Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know

"Somebody That I Used To Know" siapa sih yang ga tau lagu ini ? Lagu yang dinyanyikan oleh Gotye ft. Kimbra ini telah mendapat banyak penghargaan, antara lain Aria Music Award untuk kategori Single of The Year, Best Pop Release, Best Video (Natasha Pincus), Engineer of The Year, Producer of The Year, dan menjadi nominasi dalam kategori Highest Selling Single.
Selain itu juga memenangkan Song of The Year dan Most-Played Australian Work dalam APRA Music Award, juga menjadi nominasi untuk kategori Choice Rock Song dan Choice Break-Up Song dalam Teen Choice Award. Single ini telah mencapai 10× Platinum (700,000 unit terjual) status di Australia and 5x Platinum (5,000,000 units terjual) status di US. Tidak hanya itu, single ini juga telah menjadi single nomer 1 di iTunes di 46 negara.
Lagu ini menggambarkan tentang kegagalan sebuah hubungan. Diawali dengan bagian yang dinyanyikan oleh Gotye menceritakan keraguan diawal dan kesedihan karena kegagalan sebuah hubungan tetapi menganggap bahwa hal tersebut wajar dan mungkin diperlukan untuk dijadikan sebuah pengalaman. Menganggap bahwa mereka telah sama-sama dewasa dan tahu bagaimana cara mengatasinya, namun kemudian keadaan berubah menjadi sangat asing dan sang pria mulai meledakan emosinya.
Bagian yang dinyanyikan oleh Kimbra menceritakan bahwa sang wanita merasa dikhianati, dibatasi, dan dibuat bertanggung jawab atas semua masalah ini, di video clip sang wanita akhirnya melepaskan diri dari gambar kehidupan sang pria dan akhirnya menghapus semua gambar kehidupan sang pria dihidupnya. Dan seolah telah melihat dirinya untuk pertama kalinya, kini sang wanita benar-benar bebas.

(GPM)

Ariel, Uki, Lukman, Reza, David, Ft. Momo Geisha - Cobalah Mengerti

"Cobalah Mengerti" lagu yang dibawakan ulang oleh Ariel, Uki, Lukman, Reza, David, Ft. Momo geisha ini
terbilang sukses. Dengan aransemen lagu yang minimalis dan lebih slow daripada versi aslinya ini berhasil mencuri hati para pecinta musik Indonesia dan merupakan salah satu lagu yang paling ditunggu-tunggu untuk diputar diradio atau ditelevisi. Video clip nya juga dibuat minimalis dengan 2 balerina yang sedang menari menggambarkan kesan keanggunan dan kesedihan. Ada juga yang merasa kecewa dengan video clip nya ini yang dirasa mirip dengan video clip nya Evanesance-My Immortal. Kesan yang ditimbulkan oleh aransemen lagu ini pun sangat berbeda oleh aslinya, versi aslinya menggambarkan tentang keagresifan sedangkan versi barunya sangat melankolis. Which one do you prefer ? Kalo mimin sih yang versi baru, soalnya lebih menohok dan lebih galau. Hahahha.. Kalo yang versi aslinya lebih maskulin kalo menurut mimin pribadi, but overall it's cool :)
(GPM)