Foxcatcher (2014), a review.

A movie so neurotic, so psychotic, and so dark, you just can’t get enough courage to watch it the second time. That is how I feel after stepping out of the theatre. The dark feel of the movie gets into it successfully gave me an eerie, unnerving, disturbing, just-want-it-to-end feeling, although very slow for typical audiences.

Foxcatcher is a movie about two brothers, David (Ruffalo) and Mark Schultz (Tatum), Gold medalists at the 1984 Olympics for freestyle wrestling and their wrestling coach, John E. du Pont (Carrell), a wealthy and “eccentric” billionaire that funds and supports them with a training camp and housing as they prepare for major tournaments. Sounds like a very inspirational and motivating plot, unfortunately it is not, without spoiling anything.

Steve Carell gave an amazing performance as John E. du Pont, with the help of the amazing makeup department. As I am watching this with my girlfriend, she never really knew that John is played by Steve Carell until halfway through the movie. I never really thought that Steve Carell would go out in his comfort zone of playing comedic roles to play this “eccentric” wrestling coach. It is a drastic improvement for him that earned him a deserved nomination as Best Actor in the Oscars.

John E. du Pont delivered the sensations that I wrote in the first paragraph. Every time he is in frame, I just feel that he is going to do something psychotic or neurotic that can harm anyone around him. The character of Mr. du Pont is as disturbing seeing Hannibal Lecter for the first time in Silence of the Lambs. You ever feel riding the bus near midnight with one other passenger just looking around, sitting still not doing anything, staring blankly to the ground? That is how I feel his presence in this movie. I would never ever go near John E. du Pont if I was alive back in 1987.

Steve Carell aside, the performances by both Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo also completes the movie. Although Channing Tatum lacked a little bit, but he delivered a strong role as the protege of Mr. du Pont. I guess I never really liked how he walks. Mark Ruffalo on the other hand plays a tremendous role as the older brother. He is supportive and is the balancing force between John and Mark. Mark being very intense and David being very cool and relaxed. A brotherly dynamic that could be better if added more dialogue.

The movie successfully confuses me on whether or not I should care about success about the sport or the development of a relationship between Mark and John. Throughout the whole movie, I feel the emotion that is driving inside of Mark and roots for his wellness throughout the movie. But, John E. du Pont is a very complex character that needs to be analyzed deeply with a psychological understanding of psychotic and neurotic behavior. The director gave away the fun of it with an unimportant scene in the movie, I was disappointed with such gesture.

Foxcatcher will confuse you, it will get under your skin, it will give you a dilemma whether you should or shouldn’t be watching. Sadly, the movie has a very low replay value as it is very much clear and done after it ends. If you do want to watch it again, you would probably need to gather enough courage to see John E. du Pont back in frame again.

5/5

---

 

Before watching this movie, I strongly suggest that you DO NOT read anything or WATCH the trailer of this movie as it will gave away a major plot point.

Watch this movie on blitzmegaplex! https://olb.blitzmegaplex.com/olb/

Buy this movie on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Foxcatcher-Blu-ray-Mark-Ruffalo/dp/B00QK4ANEI

My Twitter : twitter.com/roflpaladin

My Facebook : facebook.com/roflpaladin

Text edited by : Renny Yulistia Adystiani

For questions and enquiries : dimaswahyu47@gmail.com

Whiplash (2014), a movie review.

 

I view Whiplash as a character study of the hard working self-made billionaire entrepreneur where it explores the cutthroat ride of hard work and how it will pay-off in the future. Whiplash also gives me a preview of how is it like studying in a top Ivy League school. Every day is intense, filled with books, classes, discussions, homeworks, reading, and time management. Personally, I love Whiplash as I understand its motives from the characters and the script itself. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons put on a convincing teacher-mentor relationship that gives us the visualization of how modern great men are molded and created. Whiplash is a wild ride of psychological battles that you will enjoy, whether you play music or not.

Whiplash tells a tale about a music school student named Andrew Neyman (Teller), he is a jazz drummer playing in a prestigious music school in New York. He wants to be the best, he wants to play in Lincoln Center, he wants to be the next Buddy Rich. He believes that the only way to achieve success is to be in Studio Band, an ensemble which is led by  Terence Fletcher (Simmons). Fletcher looks for the best and milks every individual in his band to be the best. He constantly roam around classes trying out different players for his band. Andrew Neyman got in and beyond that is a Teacher-Student chemistry that I have not seen anywhere in any other film.

Generally, people would disagree of Fletcher’s method in developing his students, but keep in mind that this is not high school or community college. Personally, I understand Fletcher’s passion for greatness and quality. That also applies to Neyman, his obsession of practicing until he bleeds and moving his bed to the practice room is somewhat a strange scenery to most people. But, personally I understand both character’s motives. Greatness cannot be achieved without high ego, hard work, and passion. This pursuit of greatness sets the tone of this film. It is dark, fast-paced, and intense.

To give you a picture of how Fletcher teaches his players, remember that one teacher in school that is always angry and always milking his student to the brink of tears, but every student knows that his method is right and if we do not follow his steps then we can forget about greatness and success. Try imagining a Marine Drill Sergeant conducting a jazz band, that would give you an easier analogy of Terence Fletcher.

What about Andrew Neyman? Remember that kid in your class that is all work and no play? That kid that spends his time in the library, goes home right after the bell rang to study more, and always asking lots of questions to the teacher, but fast forward 10 years later, he’s already working in some big shot Fortune 500 company with lots of money in the bank while you regret every single thing you’ve done in high school.

That level of envy and amazement is how I would view Miles Teller’s performance of Andrew Neyman. I envy his hardwork so much that I need to introspect my life after the credit rolls. The overall pace of this movie is fast and you just never know what Fletcher would do next in the next scenes. Fletcher attacks Neyman psychologically from a lot of angle, at first he’s good to him, next scene he’s torturing him like a pig on a shishkebab.

 

Whiplash is dark, picture wise. Every frame in this movie is a painting itself, and the balance use of handheld camera and steady camera is balanced. An interesting observation I made is that the camera switches handheld when the character’s emotions are unbalanced, portrait by the shaking of the scenes itself, although not as much as a shaky cam. It shows a very dark blend of colours as throughout the whole movie it has been very dark and red. Personally, I think that this blend of colour and camera work somehow portrays the emotional state of Andrew Neyman himself, he is dark and solid as a rock, but give him enough pressure he becomes so unstable.

I also enjoy the score of this movie. I listen to it all the time and very hooked to Caravan. Every song fits the mood of the scenes and the state of Andrew Neyman. You can listen to the soundtrack when at work, when commuting, before going to sleep, or a music to fill your room. The movie itself also achieve the perfect use of silence and when is the best time to use music or sound. Damien Chazelle gives a touch or Scorsese formula in this movie, which is: Being with loud sound, silence, end with a bang.

Whiplash is a movie about motivation in achieving success. It is a character study of Andrew Neyman which can be related to the great men of the 21st century. His pursuit of greatness can be found in many successful entrepreneurs and great men of today’s world. It is also a character study of the catalyst of success, the Teacher or if I may put how the Universe treats us in our lives. The Universe gives us shit and gives us a beating in life but the Universe only cares for those who are worthy enough to get up and fight. I understand the pursuit of greatness by Andrew Neyman and the obstacle Terence Fletcher gave him, only those who have a drive and is willing to see the bigger picture of hard work is the one who gets a nod from the Universe to be great.

The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever

-Anne Frank

5/5

---

 

Movies that are similar to this:

• Nightcrawler (2014)
• Raging Bull (1980)
• The Social Network (2010)

Purchase this movie on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Whiplash-Blu-ray-J-K-Simmons/dp/B00PT3AUYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422367123&sr=8-1&keywords=whiplash+bluray&pebp=1422367129617&peasin=B00PT3AUYO

Purchase the sountrack on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/whiplash-original-motion-picture/id918264571

 

My Twitter : twitter.com/roflpaladin

My Facebook : facebook.com/roflpaladin

Text edited by : Renny Yulistia Adystiani

For questions and enquiry : dimaswahyu47@gmail.com

22 Jump Street, a review.

 

We have: Starsky and Hutch, Riggs and Murtaugh, Carter and Lee, Batman and Robin, now we welcome: Schmidt and Jenko. Twenty-two Jump Street is a movie directed by the same directors of the prequel, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube. Hill and Tatum is back again, as Schmidt and Jenko, two NARCs who are participating in a program called “Jump Street” which is led by Captain Dickson, a stereotypical mad black captain who is portrayed by Ice Cube. Schmidt and Jenko are back undercover in MC State College, in order to infiltrate the dealers of a new drug called “WhyPhy” (pronounced same as wi-fi), a drug perfect for college students that give them a focus boost to study.

Channing Tatum is really selling his performance as Jenko, probably because he is physically well suited for a stereotypical dumb muscle. Same goes for Jonah Hill, who plays a nerdy hopeless romantic but smart kid. Ice Cube also did an amazing job playing Captain Dickson, a very mad police captain with a spice of black stereotype. The strongest part of this movie is definitely these three characters, mainly for the fact that they are playing themselves. Anytime Ice Cube says something, the audience instantly laughs because of how spot on he plays his character. Same goes for the duo, the chemistry between the two is very strong. For these two movies, the dynamic of their relationship is always being tested and the way they always come back to make things better again always a scene to enjoy and laugh. I really hope these three will be back for sequels to come.

The plot of this movie was alright, it’s not bad or amazing. It’s enough to keep the audiences seated. In my opinion, the story is not as interesting as the first one. The person who died, which sparks the investigation, is not as important as the first one. I feel that there is not urgency given by the movie that made the plot thought-provoking. But I think that is also a strong point of this movie. The movie itself is very self-aware, it has an average plot thus it focuses on character development and comedy.

Also a main point of this movie, is that it is very self-aware. The comedy references that the movie has, gives a tremendous amount of fan service to the audiences. To how Captain Dickson’s office is shaped like a block of ice to the construction of a condominium next to 21 jump street. It keeps the audiences entertained without the actors doing any efforts to produce a comedic effect. I advise everyone that is about to watch this movie to stick until the credit roll ends, you will not be disappointed.

There are some things that I did not enjoy in this movie, the most disappointing aspect of this movie is the drug and the dealers. WhyPhy, the drug is hardly as dangerous as the first one (although the trip sequence was funny). The dealers are also meh, unforgettable at best. I will not spoil some plot points, because if I do it would disappoint you and it won’t matter anyway because the dealers and the drug itself is very mediocre.

Personally, I had an amazing time watching this movie. But, not everyone in the theatre laughed as much as I did. Although I didn’t pay attention to the other audiences, I noticed that they don’t always understand the comedic references that I mentioned earlier. Personally, I’m not sure if they enjoy the movie as I do, but as an average Indonesian it is probably hard to catch the references that the movie offers. Not forgetting to mention the vulgar nature of college life, it would not be found funny for most Indonesians. Also, penis jokes. The movie is not for most of Indonesian audiences. They would enjoy it, but not as much as expected from the western audiences or western-exposed Indonesians. N

My final verdict for this movie is a Four of Five. It is an excellent comedy with great character development, it’s great for teenagers and university students, but do not bring your kids to watch this movie. I am very excited to see 23 Jump Street and the next iterations to come.

---

 

Did the writer enjoy this movie? FUCK YES.

Did the writer laughed like a maniac? FUCK YES.

Did everyone else laughed like the writer? Not as much, no.

Was the movie epic? Yes.

Was it a good sequel? Yes.

How about another sequel? YES PLEASE.

Can I bring my kids to watch the movie? No, good God no.

---

 

Godzilla, a review.

Godzilla, is a new iteration of the Godzilla franchise. Directed by a new up-and-coming Gareth Edwards, it is his first big box office movie. Godzilla stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kickass), Elizabeth Olsen (Oldboy), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima)

Godzilla has successfully bring back, along with Pacific Rim, the monster movie genre. Unlike the movie from 1998, this new Godzilla brings back the horror and suspense in the classic monster movie. The trailer of the movie actually is the main reason of why I decided to watch this movie. The very unnerving and uncertainty of how the Godzilla looks and how gigantic this beast is, it really attracted me to watch this movie. Combined with the fantastic score by Alexandre Desplat (famous for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Argo), terrific cinematography by Seamus McGarvey (famous for Avengers), and wonderful SFX, the movie deserves a watch by any kind of audiences from any demographic. In my opinion, the actors here are the 40% of the movie, they acted really good and enough to complement the visual stimulation of the movie.

Godzilla centers around, well Godzilla. An ancient apex predator that restores balance of nature. Somehow, there is another creature called the MUTA. The MUTA is by nature, Godzilla’s food. Somehow the MUTA got awakened by chain of events and it is the human’s job to contain them to not cause destruction to the whole world. Godzilla sticks to its classic lore of nuclear bombs, as it is a metaphor of the nuclear bombs back in WW2. In my opinion, the main stars here are actually Godzilla and the MUTA, the humans are just there as a complementary role. But the humans actually did a good job to fill the scenes to we won’t get bored.

Bryan Cranston plays an engineer that was involved in an accident that eventually kills his wive. In that incident, one of the creatures is involved which drives him insane and eventually transforms him into this mad scientist. Like classic Cranston fashion, he did an amazing performance, especially at later scenes where his life gets turned around. He deserves his given screen time as if he had more, the movie could get a little problematic. Also receiving the same praise is Ken Watanabe, also plays a doctor which is involved in the whole monster incident. Ken Watanabe’s performance was stellar, especially when he stares into the abyss as he is thinking of what to do next. Other actors were good, but not too good and not bad at all, they did an okay job to fill the blanks. Back to the monsters itself, I did not have any problems of their performances. I did however appreciate the writers for treating them as an animal instead of a monster, with all the natural selection theories that are embedded in the movie.

The movie tries very hard to keep the monster fights minimal until the final act. some people are disappointed that they did that. I was kind of disappointed that they keep pocketing fight scenes on the first and second scene. But, I understand from the director’s perspective that he wanted to give suspense and sense of confusion of what was happening. I feel what the people in the movie are feeling, sense of danger, confusion, disturbance, and panic. Glimpses of both creatures actually gave tingles down my spine, I was kinda afraid for my life for a second when I watched this movie. The pacing of this movie was rather problematic on the last second act of this movie, I kinda got bored for a few minutes or so. I will not spoil the final act of this movie, but I will say one thing : EPIC. If you ever buy a blu-ray of this movie, at the final act, watch it while you play the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger song.

As a monster movie, Godzilla has secured the monster genre back to the mainstream crowd and deserves praises from all around the world. Godzilla is a movie for everyone, fans of the franchise will definitely love it and general audiences will be addicted for more and more Godzilla. A sequel is planned, and I hope Gareth Edwards can deliver the more suspense and thrill for his next movie. I am giving this movie a Five of Five, a masterpiece that is definitely worth the admission, must watch, and a classic for times to come.

---

 

Did the writer like it? Yes.

Was it epic? Yes.

Should I watch it on IMAX? Yes, whenever available.

Should I buy the blu-ray? Please buy it when it releases.

Should I watch it with my mates? Definitely.

Can I watch this with my children? Maybe, I won’t recommend it though.

Should I worry about blood? Nah, not really.

---

 

Edge of Tomorrow, a review.

Edge of Tomorrow is a military sci-fi thriller-action movie which stars Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, directed by Doug Liman, famous for The Bourne Identity and Mr & Mrs. Smith, and in my mind the only person in hollywood that can make shaky-cam look like a masterpiece and a pioneer of it too. It is Based on a Japanese manga called All You Need is Kill ((オール・ユー・ニード・イズ・キル Ōru Yū Nīdo Izu Kiru) by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

Before I start on reviewing my movie, I want to give away a small rant that I would like to express for many of you movie fans out there, especially sci-fi and military buffs. WHY ARE YOU NOT WATCHING THIS?!?!?! I watched this last sunday at Pondok Indah Mall 1 and I was one of the probably 20 people of 100 capacity theatre. Sitting at row D, I was the lowest seated person in the whole theatre. No one is taking this movie seriously, why? I may not know any causes of this but definitely the cause of this is Maleficent. I have not watch Maleficent but I believe that they outmarketed Edge of Tomorrow by a far margin. Well definitely, a movie marketed for children and a movie marketed for sci-fi/military fans, who can possibly compete with Maleficent? I believe it is mainly because of the movie’s well-crafted trailer which leaves the audiences thinking and forces them to watch it in order to know what the movie is about. Now, this can be a double edged sword. For a movie enthusiast and a guy that likes complex movies as myself, it is a privilege to watch a movie like that. But unlike the general viewers, they seem to not enjoy movies like that, probably? Anyways, I am still shocked by the poor numbers of this movie’s doing in the box office and fucking Maleficent why are you ruining such a masterpiece?

Edge of Tomorrow is a movie that centers around Tom Cruise, a US Army soldier who suddenly joins the United Defence Force to attack these aliens that invaded the earth called the mimics. In this war, the humans have made an exoskeletal armour that is developed to counter the mimics. In the middle of the war with the mimics, Tom Cruise came across a mimic that he kill and spilled a fluid that if comes in contact with a human, if he/she is dead, he has to relive that same day over-and-over again. Suddenly, he meets Emily Blunt that had that power in the past, and they have to come up with a plan to defeat these mimics at the same day over and over and over and over and over again. This movie is one of the best examples and probably one of the best of the time-travelling niche that is currently a buzz in hollywood (XMen Days of Future Past and MIB3, lookin at ya both!). The way the repeat scenes in different manners as Tom Cruise tries to repeat every single step until he is faced with a different path is well executed, mainly because Tom Cruise is an excellent actor. Undoubtedly, Tom Cruise is in his 50s and he DEFINITELY still have lots of juice on him (he still have MI5 on the way, oy vay). There are scenes in this movie where he fell from a drop and he still did all of his stunts! But, although more of the film is CGI and SFX, he still make his character look like a bad-ass Terran marine. Emily Blunt is also very great in this film, she really sold the Kerrigan-esque mascot of the UDF, she is definitely one of the best female bad-asses in hollywood history, up there with Ripley and the bride from Kill Bill. The movie’s lore and story, to me, was not as complex as great sci-fi movies, but it still keeps audiences at the edges of their seats and stimulating them to think by every frame. There are some parts of the movies that are open for interpretation and there are probably fan theories about the movie as well. If a movie can make a sci-fi fan theorycraft at the first few minutes, then it is a great movie.

The movie has good pacing, meaning that it doesn’t feel too fast or feels too slow. I feel that the movie keeps me at the edge of my seats enough and it keeps me seated at the back of my seat enough to let me think about the movie. The movie feels like an interval run, you run with the movie for 3 minutes, and you take a rest for 1 minute, you run again for 30 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and so on and so on with different ratio of interval. I have no problems of the movie’s pacing and overall storyline, I see no flaws in the movie’s chronology.

Doug Liman did an amazing job for not using shaky-cam at all in this movie. This movie have great cinematography, wide shots of action scenes with no exaggeration of slow-motion, bad CGI, or shaky-cam. Shots were stable throughout the movie and had no issues and did not gave me any disturbance whatsoever.

There is however, a flaw in the movie. The mimic is given little to no origin story. The mimics are definitely terrifying, but I feel that it doesn’t have the proper lore to support its badassery.

Overall, this movie is in my opinion an awesome sci-fi military movie. Not in par with Aliens, 2001, or Avatar though, but will be a masterpiece that can stand the test of time over and over throughout the years.

I am going to give this movie Five of Five, a must watch for every sci-fi and military buffs and definitely should watch for general audiences. Grab your tickets fast because it won’t last!

---

 

Should I watch it? Yes.

Did the writer enjoy it? Very much.

Is it worth the money? Yes.

When should I watch it? As soon as possible!

Should I watch it with friends? Sure.

Should I worry about blood? Kinda.

Will I get bored? No.

Can I watch this with my kids? Sure.

---