FROST/NIXON

MPAA Rating: R for some language.
Run time: 122 min

As boxing fan, this film remind me of Ali vs Frazier, Rumble in the Jungle where the participant exchanging verbal jabs, powered with extreme close ups.

Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon is a dramatized version of the famous 1977 interview where David Frost corner Richard Nixon, a thing not even any inquisitor could ever do at that time. Who is David Frost? He is not the 70s version of Dan Rather or Walter Cronkite, only a talk show host who interview celebrities.

But success in America is unlike success anywhere else. So David Frost (Michael Sheen) try his luck by offering Nixon (Frank Langella) $600,000 from his own pocket to conduct a "no holds barred" interview in California, years after Nixon resigned.

The beginning wasn't look nice for Frost, Nixon can return the jabs while Frost's team, an experienced TV newsman, Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and a researcher, James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) seem desperate to nail the only U.S. President ever resigned.

Sure, the cream of the 12 day interview is the Watergate case where Frost wanted to give Nixon the trial he never has or even push him to confess his crimes. As Frost throw his notepad, we all now that the gloves has come off and Nixon, like it or not, has to throw the towel. This is more than just a Nixon trial that should have happened had Ford didn't give him pardon, it is a cynical look on how TV could reduce anyone's career (or legacies) just by a simple close up.

The performances were compelling, Frank Langella is a serious competitor for Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino in the award season. The script and editing was well paced and what makes me still wonder, how Ron Howard can make a boring interview with heavy subjects very mesmerizing and rewarding to watch.

AMERICAN TEEN

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material, some drinking and brief smoking-all involving teens.
Run time: 95 min


What has changed in teenland over 30 years? This documentary shows that nothing has changed much, the same clique and stereotype still rule. This documentary encompass a year of four high school students in Warsaw, Indiana. The students who perfectly fits to the stereotype. There's Megan, the popular queen bee(tch) who has to face pressure from her father to enroll at Notre Dame, Colin Clemens, the popular jock (without annoying attitude), the basketball star who strive to get some scholarship.

Then there's the rebel, Hannah Bailey who looks like the innocent version of Julia Stiles and dreams to study film and Jake Tusing, the self-described nerd, loves video games and shows the lighter side of being a teen. During the whole movie all characters undergo some changes, breakups, success, tears and so on.

What really bothers me is that this film doesn't look like real at all, it looks like staged through careful and meticulous editing. Although the director stated that it was all real, it is hard to believe that this film is real. Not to mention the stereotypes, as if teen life could be easily simplified by these characters (or people in this matter). It doesn't even bother to do a cross stereotype, like a successful nerd or a shy popular kid. It felt like a simple version of any MTV reality show, which doesnt feel real at all. Too bad, the documentary that could be a viewing window for adults to know what does teenland looks now, doesn't differ much from media hyped cliches.

3 DOA 3 CINTA (PESANTREN)

Directed by: Nurman Hakin
Starring: Nicholas Saputra, Dian Sastrowardoyo, Yoga Bagus Satatagama, Yoga Pratama

Having heard that this film screened in Pusan International Film Festival makes me interested. Apparantly my expectations is a bit too high. This is a coming-of-age tale about three Indonesian schoolboys living in "Pesantren" (Islamic Religious School) with religious and social issues as the side dish.

Actually I am perplexed about the choice of Nicholas Saputra and Dian Sastrowardoyo, two leading Indonesian movie stars, as if both of them was chosen for the sake of marketing, as for Dian, her screentime wasn't that much and only appears in the middle. Had this film didn't chose prominent actors, it can still tell a believable story. I guess the filmmaker try to capitalize the fact that most teen will watch this film solely on the name of Nico without even questioning the content. I can see that from the numbers of teens watching this film, most of them commenting on how cute Nico is or how funny some scenes are. Which left me wondering whether those teens could really understand what the film was all about.

Living in a pesantren in central Java, longtime friends Huda (Nicholas Saputra), Syahid (Yoga Bagus Satatagama) and Rian (Yoga Pratama) are living a modest and nice life. There they are in the crossroad of two religious teacher, the one teaches peace, the one chose the other way (you know what I mean).

Syahid buys "the other way" and transform himself throughout the film, Huda tries to seek his lost mother helped by Donna (Dian Sastrowardoyo), a dangdut singer with vague background and Rian wanted to be a filmmaker. As for characters, Syahid is the most three dimensional of all, while Rian only appears as a comic relief, even his conflict with his mother bear no result at all.

With humor and tackling some sensitive issues, this film manage to "explain" audience who knows nothing about Pesantren about the life and obstacles inside it. The editing is a bit choppy and you can notice that some of Huda's dialogue was poorly dubbed, especially when he speaks one or two sentence of Arabic language. Apart from that, the film could be trimmed few minutes and try tying some loose knots.

GRAN TORINO

Run time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, and some violence

There's life in his grin, growl, wince and hiss, there's a lifetime of achievement spanning from the age where Kennedy was a U.S. President until Obama takes charge for the living American legend, Clint Eastwood.

One could be mistaken that Gran Torino is a 21st century Dirty Harry, but this is a complex story about sacrifice, love and redemption. One could also think this is as a metaphor for the dying American auto industry.

Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is an unpleasant, loner, bigot Korean War vet with "racist" vocabulary, his wife just died and everything around him makes him irritated, his relationship with his sons isn't very good, the neighborhood he lives is no longer the picket fences white America, it is a melting pot for Asian, Blacks and Mexicans and gang disturbances.

After retiring from a 50 year old career in the auto industry, Walt lives alone with his dog, Walt lives in the 50s, and just like many vet, refuse to accept change.

Things doesn't get better as Thao (Bee Vang), a boy next door, attempts to steal Walt's precious 1972 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation. He fails when Walt shows up with a shotgun. As the gang members try to "initiate" him for the second time, Walt Kowalski, the Dirty Harry version shows up with a shotgun and a piercing dialogue.

Then Walt become a reluctant hero of the neighborhood, a part he initially despise. His tough exterior is being defrosted by Thao's smart and spirited older sister, Sue (Ahney Her). And as a penance (or redemption as this film strongly emphasize), Thao works for Walt. As expected, cross generation budding starts and few laughs created, the Eastwoodian style. But problems doesn't end there, the gangs return with a bloody vengeance and Walt has to do things he believe is right.

This is film that feels utterly personal—a movie that might actually be as much about Clint Eastwood the man/myth/icon as it is, it is a strange but humble encore for his legendary career in the cinema, a reflection of his life and a notion that America is changing and last but not least, a revisit of his legendary image. This is 2008's finest film (sharing the top spot with The Dark Knight) and if Clint didn't nail Oscar nomination (or even the golden statue itself) then there is no justice at all.

I wish Clint keep making movies like this, to remind us, that watching film is not only an activity to kill time, but an activity to make you realize that life is worth living.

TROPA DE ELITE

MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language and drug content.
Run time: 115 min

There's no doubt this film is well made. Police corruption and brutality, gangster shooting each other and two young Rio de Janeiro police officers fantasize implementing law and order in the city of gangsters.

The pope is visiting Rio de Janeiro and he needs a good night's sleep, so the local police commander sends Elite Squad to fix things up, including killing low life criminal.

Capt. Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is a captain of an Elite Squad with integrity and Kiefer Sutherland's 24 brutality, but the fact that his wife is pregnant driving him crazy. Nascimento wants someone to replace him, but who among the crowd of corrupt cops could replace him? Two rookies seem fit for the most stressing job, Neto (Caio Junqueira) and the idealist Matias (Andre Ramiro).

Those rookies start from the bottom, working at the police auto shop and witnessing on how cops steal car parts or go to law school and see the ignorance and delusional mind of rich students. As expected, both situation lead to dangerous consequence in the endless cycle of violence.

As these rookies undergo basic training for the elite squad, they realize that this squad is harder and more honest than most cops. After that, they have to invade the slum, and upheld the law, whatever that means.

Expect a vibrant camera work just like Cloverfield and GoodFellas style of violence and the drama of L.A. Confidential.

As an afterthought, I have to say, that after City of God, City of Men and Tropa de Elite, would these internationally acclaimed movies help Brazilian tourism?

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO

Run time: 101 minutes.
MPAA Rating: R for strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language.

Film makers try to put so many frames on romance, from sinking ship to war, but porn? That takes some serious effort and Kevin Smith (with interesting synergy with Judd Apatow) takes porn to a new level, especially the numbers of cursing and swearwords that match the casualties of Saving Private Ryan, the level of romance. Every dialogue contains the F, A, C, D and P word or its synonyms and said without remorse.

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are roommates and they have lived together for years, enduring poverty and their own attractions to each other, establishing a platonic relationship. Facing eviction, they have to spin their brain to make cash. After an unfortunate accident that sent Miri’s “granny panties” to the internet, they had a crazy idea, making their own amateur porn movie. So they enlist many of their friends, a list of quirky characters with dumbness and funny accent.

But having sex and making love, turns out to be a big difference on Zack and Miri, will they keep making porn and hide their jealousy as each of them was “scripted” to “bleep” somebody else in their porn movie.

In terms of visual vulgarity, this wasn’t as graphic as American Pie, Basic Instinct or the Jackass series, although it might make some squeamish people wince as Zack arrange the F, A, C and D word in just one breath, don’t even mention the profanity jokes which knows no boundary at all. By the way, after seeing this film you wish you never know what “Dutch rudder” is.

BURN AFTER READING

MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence.
Run time: 96 min

Having seen No Country for Old Men, most people, including me, have high expectation on the latest Coen flick. However, anyone seeks gore and shocking scenes will be disappointed but still, zany characters are abundant here. It is slightly below Fargo but not as good as Miller's Crossing or No Country.

As always this film is difficult to classify, is it crime? Drama? Thriller? Comedy? or amalgamation of any well defined genre? Greed is the major theme here, apart from alcoholism and bizarre coincidence.

C.I.A. agent Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), is being demoted for being an alcoholic and perhaps having a temper as hot as boiling pasta. His wife, the icy bitchy Katie (Tilda Swinton), doesn't like this at all. Meanwhile, her lover, ex-secret service agent/federal Marshall, Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), is trying to decide whether to request a divorce from his wife to be with Katie while still browsing internet for blind dates. That's how Harry meets a gym worker named Linda Litzke (France McDormand), who thinks that inner beauty is only some bullshit therefore needs money for some cosmetic surgical procedures. With her accomplice, Chad (Brad Pitt), three steps away from having a naivety of Forrest Gump, has the leverage, a copy of Osborne Cox memoir he accidentally found on his gym.

Both had tried to blackmail Osborne to no success and then try to sell the secret to the Russian. Now if I have to tell the bizarre coincidence and the plot that goes round and round, it would be a very bizarre review.

The shock came after 60 minutes as one of the character "accidentally" died/killed (very difficult to determine which one really happens).

George Clooney and Frances McDormand has the most interesting chemistry as for John Malkovich, there's no explanation why he is so hot headed.

What really bothers me is the satellite image at the beginning and end of this film. What was that all about? This film is about bizarre and witty coincidences paired with quirky characters, incompetent agency, affairs and human greed, does it need some zoom out/in of a building from space? Shouldn't the money for that shot directed to pay another character in this movie to keep things stranger than ever? Like hiring Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan for instance?

MAMMA MIA!

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sex-related comments.
Run time: 108 min

Who hates ABBA? Nobody, even those who used to listen to black metal/punk/underground music has been caught whistling Dancing Queen in their respective toilet, no matter how old they are. For millions of people, ABBA has been the synonym for guilty pleasure.

As a fan of Bollywood movies, the plot aren't as difficult as Matrix:Reloaded and occasionally, the characters cut from dialogue to dancing and singing, dangling from ladders, magically jumping on the roof and keep dancing until the music stops.

With Disney type of plot, even telling the whole story would be a spoiler. Donna (Meryl Streep) has a tourist villa in a remote island in Greece. She has a daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who will be married to Sky (Dominic Cooper), kinda weird name to invent huh? Sophie doesn't know who her father is. From his mother diary, Sophie had a clue and invited three men who used to be Donna's love interest, Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and Harry (Colin Firth). From there, you can follow the cheerfull story easily and enjoy the tops songs of ABBA weaved into the storyline. This is, by far the best antithesis for The Dark Knight.

Now put your intellectual mind to a holiday in this beautiful Greek island and try not get caught by your peers whistling Fernando in the public toilet while having a Gothic make-up or secretly digging your parent's basement to find ABBA cassettes or LP.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Run time: 106 min

After the credits rolled I read the caption "James Bond will return". Well, he surely has to return since after the hard action and fast pacing chase I was left with the most nagging question I ever pose for any Bond franchise ever: "What is Quantum organization anyway? What do they want, and, what happened to Mr. White after he escape?"

The plot is okay, the action scenes are superb. I can understand the twist and subtle sarcasm at imperialism and hypocrisy aided by powerful countries, the double standard of the U.S. and A, the transformation of Bond from a darker spy to a...well....more darker than ever as he finally shut his emotion. After all of that, still, the audience was left dumbfounded trying to figure out why does there is no explanation on Quantum organization.

Am I dreaming, or this Bond franchise has transform itself too hard until there's no Bond element left at all and only leave us with Bond himself (and he didn't even say his famous catchphrase at all, in case you waited for that magic moment). No Q, no fancy gadgets, no vodka and martini, plus he didn't sleep with Camille (shocking eh?). Don't even mention the end, it was an anti climax.

However compared to Babylon A.D. High School Musical trilogy or Hannah Montana concert videos and tons of Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan interpretation of 007, this one stand above all and manage to inject some dry and bleak humor between M and Bond plus a certain degree of realism by fast pacing edit which remind us of Jason Bourne (Coincidence? Not really, the producer use the same person who choreographed Bourne in this film), although not above Casino Royale.

Hint to audience, better watch Casino Royale first to understand what is going on here. I already watch Casino twice on the DVD but still doesn't feel satisfied with Quantum. Are they planning for another sequel?

What about the theme song? Gosh that was awful, it felt as if Alicia Keys is shouting to a wall and Jack White tries so hard to pound the wall. Definitely unmemorable.

Gosh, even the melancholic Casino Royale has an open climax ending. Perhaps years from now, people will like Quantum more and they should make another sequel to this, the first Bond trilogy!

TROPIC THUNDER

Run time: 107 min
MPAA: R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material

The movie they think they're making... isn't a movie anymore.

Gosh, has Hollywood has run out of idea so the only way they can draw a laugh is to mock themselves to the limit? However it really works, for those movie buffs and Access Hollywood viewers this film is an amalgamation of Russel Crowe's antics, A-List star with an ego the size of Texas, Belgium and California, Rapper with explicit lyrics, another version of Eddie Murphy and a Shia LaBeouf lookalike. Somehow it felt like an overly glitter version of The-A-Team with Tom Cruise adding the fun mocking studio executive.

The actors are, Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) a rapper with "explicit" hit song, "I Love Tha' Pussy". Geeze they surely push stereotypes too hard for this character, then there's the A-list action star, Tugg Speedman's (Ben Stiller) and funnyman Jeff "Fatty" Portnoy (Jack Black), who had a very valuable talent, farting in a movie. Then there's Russel Crowe incarnation, Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), five time Oscar winner who takes acting too seriously.

These Hollywood bunch were thrown in Vietnam making a war movie and a expected the shoot went into a mess, they even has to encounter a real drug smuggler cartel somewhere in Laos in an unbelievable act reminds us of The Great Escape.

Forget logic, every aspect of this movie seems to drag people out of their senses, it seems, even in the most chaotic scene, that even bullets doesn't want to hit them at all since any death will ruin the humor of this film.

With lots of cameos, even Lance Bass make a parody of you-know-what-but-I-shall-not-make-spoiler and John Voight desiring an Oscar is a breeze of nice chuckle for me. It even spoof Apocalypse Now and war movies. Overall, if you want a non stop humor that will tickle your belly, this is the right movie for you. The more you know Hollywood, the more you will be amused by this flick.

SLEUTH

I can't believe this,a film consisted of only two people, arguing, fighting and tricking each other in a slick manner but can still capture my attention. Two extremely clever British men are in a game of trickery and deceit. Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine), an aging famous author lives alone in a high-tech mansion which resembles one of James Bond's enemy lair after his wife left him for a younger man.Then Andrew invited Milo Tindle, a charming aspiring actor who happens to be the guy Andrew's wife is sleeping with.

However, Andrew chose to play a deadly game with Milo, a game that changes almost everything.with only two people, the strength lies in each other acting power (does such thing ever exist?) and in the patience of the audience, lucky for me, I like the way they play the "game" and how it ends.

For theater goers, this type of movie wasn't something new, rich with psycholigal layers and human insecurities. It feels like Before Sunset/Before Sunrise, but more depressing and claustrophobic with British accent.

LASKAR PELANGI (THE MOVIE)

I have no expectation for this film, not only it was based on a popular and best seller book, but I already read the book and understand the story. So I just come for the so called visual ride.

While my friend, who also already read the book, hates the film, she said that many stuff were left out. As for me, I think we cannot compare between books and movie, they are two different stuff. Besides, the director has full liberty to have his own interpretation.

The first day of the opening of SD Muhammadiyah (Primary school withmore slamic education) is a thrill for two highly dedicated teachers, Muslimah (Cut Mini) and Harfan (Ikranagara), together with 9 other students who waited at the desolate and shabby school in Gantong Village, Belitong (an island located in the province of South Sumatera). The school must have 10 students, otherwise it will be closed.

Mind you, Belitong in the 70s is a poor island where kids chose to work as hard labor instead of going to school. As expected, comes the student number 10 and those 10 students were named Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warrior, well perhaps it is not a good translation of the title itself, but I prefer that name since I also like Greenpeace) by Muslimah. Five years with Muslimah, and Harfan the students must face considerable challanges, the unfriendly nature, their shabby class which resembles a goat cage and lots of financial and social problems.

Despite all of the above mentioned problems, some dare to have a dream and take a shot on it, like Ikal (Zulfani), Lintang (Ferdian) and Mahar (Veris Yamarno) with their wit has become the spirit to learn and do more for their school.

This is a very different movie than most Indonesian movies I have seen. No more Jakarta-centrist approach, the kids were Belitong's native and they speak in Belitong accent therefore they acted as naturally as possible. As for the picture, I think the 2.35.1 aspect ratio would do good, since the director took so many long shot, but like many Indonesian movies, they use 16:9 aspect ratio. Unfortunately no sweeping aerial shot to capture the beauty of Belitong.

I personally like this film, about the idea that we have to "give more instead of taking more", that even for the students in a remote village, they had the spirit to be a better person.

If there's any flaw, it is the choice of Tora Sudiro, a famous Indonesian actor, which I found as a distraction since he is famous and the film is suppose to be about a message, not a parade of famous people.

As the credit roll, it remind me that such school still exist in Indonesia, somewhere in the middle of nothing, filled with kids who wanted to study and make the most of it. Well, it is such fact that will provoke people, especially who watched it in the city (lots of teenagers watch this film and I hope that they should be thankful with what they got, stop dreaming of having a hedonistic and shallow pursuits) and if those kids in a remote village can make it they can do it because they had the will and courage.

MIXED REVIEWS

Gosh, it has been a while since I wrote here, my days are hectic so I will try to review several films I have seen as short as possible:

Son of Rambow: Two kids on a journey to find solace for their own restrained environment and found Rambo as their outlet is something I never thought of.

Maradona, The Hands of God: Nice but this one felt like any other mediocre sized biography, tries so hard to explain the why and how and doesn't depart to a more complex character driven film.

Iron Man: Yes, finally I can see this overly hyped film, wasn't as good as I thought, just some comic to screen adaptation with fancy effects and marvel(ous) effort to bend logic. I mean a man in a suit flying through many time zones and felt no tired at all? Not to mention being thrown here and there and minor scratch on Tony Stark? Come on.

Wall-E: Whoa! I wish I can say magnificent in seven foreign languages for this cute simple robot. Pixar has successfully enter our soul and stir it in a beautiful and simple way. With genuine wit and and new visual landscape like no other film, plus a Kubrickesque feeling, this one has nail an Oscar.

Persepolis: I was late to watch this film, but I like the animation and how the story was told from one point of view. It is a cinematic poetry in black and white, it is also very striking on how Marjane could convey a lot of message with just black and white.

SUKKAR BANAT (CARAMEL)

(Roadside Attractions)
Runtime: 90 min

Is this Lebanon’s answer to Sex and the City or My big ethnic Lebanese wedding with no profanity at all? At first I was skeptical, since it looks like just another melancholy chic flick but it turns out that, even with all female cast, it has a universal message to men. The fact that this film comes from war ravaged Lebanon also attracts me, will they show some war time struggle?

Five women in Lebanon have to tackle many universal issues, forbidden love and desires, traditions, repressed sexuality, and fear of getting old.

The title itself refers to a method used in the Middle East to remove unwanted body hair. Instead of using wax, they use caramel, consisted of heating sugar, water and lemon juice makes it irressistible to eat.

Layale (Nadine Labaki) who works in a beauty salon in Beirut has a dead end affair with a married man. Meanwhile her friend, Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri), will soon be getting married with a Muslim man but the fact that she’s not a virgin troubles her.

Then Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) has a subtle and sensual lesbian attraction and Jamale (Gisèle Aouad) refuses to acknowledge that she had entered menopause, but the one who steal the show is Rose (Sihame Haddad), a tailor with a shop next to the salon. She had devoted her life to taking care of her mentally unbalanced older sister Lili (Aziza Semaan), but has found her first love.

Sihame Haddad steal the film with her heart wrenching acting as an old woman who’s being torn between fighting for her true love and taking care of her older sister. These women were all congregated in one beauty parlor run by the two of them.

What makes this film also warm and universal is as if the viewers were given a peeping hole on Lebanese daily life without war and bombs exploding. Unlike Sex and the City with the usual shocking candid talk, Caramel manages to maintain attraction by small scenes, like a woman and a girl separated by aquarium or how one character dyed their hair into red.

As expected, this debut from actress director Nadine Labaki is chatty and could easily move towards a generic chic flick, but it also give a warm feeling of the melting pot of Lebanese culture, once a while they switch between Arabic and French they even have to struggle with their culture.

As a guy who used to watch endless numbing action or gut wrenching indie drama, I have to say that this film is worth watching, even for those who hate chick flick, since this is not a chick flick; it is a celebration of women from Lebanon.

SHINE A LIGHT

(Paramount Vantage)
Runtime: 122 min

Scorsese and The Stones, a magical combination on the screen and on your ears. Martin Scorsese documenting two 2006 performances that took place during The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang tour, this is also the first documentary features which open this year's Berlin International Film Festival. Intercut with archival footage of their career, their performance are awesome as ever. It is clear that this documentary was meant for hard core Stones fans, since there are no song title appeared whatsoever, but unless you live in a cave for the past 50 years or holed up in Paris Hilton's basement listening to her so-called album, anyone from both side of the equator can distinguish between "Jumping Jack Flash" and "I Can't Get No Satisfaction".

The lensing and camera movement are vibrant, it can capture Mick Jagger's theatrical performance and eccentricity of Keith Richard, mind you, tracking shot is Scorsese's trademark and he also employs nine Academy Award winning and nominated cinematographer. Not only that, with Bill Clinton and added performance of Christina Aguilera, Jack White, and Buddy Guy, this is may be the most intimate documentary ever made.

For a band whose age qualified to retire and enjoy their success, kudos for their infinite passion for music and performance which shaped our culture. With this documentary, fans (and you) can get ultimate satisfaction.

For those who wonders about the song title, here's the performance list in chronological order:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash
2. Shattered
3. She Was Hot
4. All Down the Line
5. Loving Cup - with Jack White
6. As Tears Go By (Jagger/Richards/Oldham)
7. Some Girls
8. Just My Imagination (Norman Whitfield/Barrett Strong)
9. Far Away Eyes
10. Champagne & Reefer (Muddy Waters) - with Buddy Guy
11. Tumbling Dice
12. You Got the Silver - lead vocal by Keith Richards
13. Connection (incomplete/cut with 1999 interview clips) - lead vocal by Keith Richards
14. Sympathy for the Devil
15. Live with Me - with Christina Aguilera
16. Start Me Up
17. Brown Sugar
18. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
19. Shine a Light (incomplete; audio only)

THE DARK KNIGHT

(Warner Bros)
Runtime: 2 Hours 32 minutes

From Gothic to Psychotic, Nolan has brought a new kind of superhero. The Dark Knight is very haunting, with chilling score from Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard and a perfect directing, no wonder the fans will scream for the third movie.

Joker’s diabolical scheme cost Batman’s sanity and in the end it left the viewers wondering about the amount of hard core nihilism and violence in this film. Surely this is not for children or the weak hearted.

The late Heath Ledger has stolen the show, and he stole it with grace. Throughout the film, he devises traps that force Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make near impossible moral and ethical decisions. The transformation of Harvey Dent into Two Face also got a nice portion, viewers doesn’t feel that Harvey is just some addition in this 2 hours 32 minutes long film, Harvey, Batman and Joker are the triumvirate that makes this film alive. A small trip to Hong Kong makes this film realistic and Chicago plays a good role as Gotham.

Unlike most summer movies who sacrifice the story for the sake of mind-numbing special effect, The Dark Knight has a deep and poetic drama. It creates a world where being a superhero is at best a double-edged sword and no triumph is likely to be anything but short-lived. With this film, Nolan has surpassed ever expectation, and if there’s a third outing, better be more superb than this, because Nolan has set the bar for superhero movies higher.

IN BRUGES

(Focus Features)
Runtime: 107 min

If Fargo located in Europe it will be in Bruges, Belgium (pronounced "broozh") only without snow and naive Sheriff. Closer to Coen's Miller's Crossing, the dark comedy and characters resembles the crime world of Coen brothers.

This half-comic, half-serious account of two Irish hitmen who are sent to medieval city of Bruges to cool down after a job went bad kicks in with Colin Farrell as Ray and Brendan Gleeson as Ken. The reason why they were sent there explained by a bloody flashback. From Ken's voiceover it was also revealed that they were sent there to cool down by their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), a character that only shows up in the last third of the film.

Verbally and behaviourly they have a love-hate relationship and the plot revolves on how they spent their day in the "fairytale" city with cobbled stone road, medieval village, canals and pristinely preserved Gothic architecture plus the peculiarities of their character. Ray also bumps in with some locals, like Chloe (Clemence Poesy), a charming drug dealer working on a film shoot, and dwarf/midget actor Jimmy (Jordan Prentice). Then the story moves in a fascinating way, full with surprising and bloody coincidences (they are on a small town anyway so they will bump with each other again). The good thing about this film is how it stir your emotion, you don't know whether you should laugh or cry as they both regret about a hit gone bad, but they didn't regret about the hit itself.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

(Paramount)
Runtime: 124 min

As Harrison Ford filming Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Shia LeBeouf was still wearing a diaper. Now Shia joins Harrison as Spielberg renews Indiana Jones franchise. In this fourth installment of the Indy Jones series, age is not a problem. The 65 year old Harrison Ford still kicks and trading punches with his enemies.

This time the most soughted artefact is the crystal skull, believed to posess a power beyond earthly realms. To make Harrison age logical to the story line, now Indy lives in 1957, exactly 19 years after the last Indy film. America is in the middle of cold war, thus communist Russia as the enemy seems plausible. Opened in Nevada desert, the 50s got their taste from one of Elvis’s song, and then some fascinating action happened as Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), leader of the Soviet Army's unit whose hair resembles Chigurh’s wife, push Indiana Jones to search for something mysterious.

Spielberg fan got a hint from this opening scene, skinny fingers appeared of a bag and reference to Roswell 1947 (The X Files fans are jumping euphorically) indicates that alien play a large part here. Then Shia LeBeouf as Mutt Williams popped in, decked out in black leather jacket and cap, a la Marlon Brando. Mutt ask Indiana at his Marshall College to help rescue his mother, who we later find out along with Indy, it is his old love Marion from Raiders of the lost Ark and indicates that relation between Mutt and Indiana is more than we ever thought. Spielberg and Lucas also put a lot of homage from previous Indy movies, like a picture of Sean Connery on Indy’s desk. Another reference of the 50s were also present, a hint that McCarthysim of communist witch hunt has made the academic scholar uneasy.

The action scenes were fascinating (and defying logic), from the jungle of Peru to the temple of Akator, Spielberg and Lucas filled it with enough fights, effects, family feud and humor. For those remembering watching Raiders from VHS, this is a nostalgic journey, the whip, fedora and the John Williams score reminded us of the good old 80s that some icons are deeply etched in our collective conscience.

EL ORFANATO

(Picturehouse)
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona
Runtime: 105 min

Bored of Indonesian horrors which will make you sick to the core? This thing will cure your lust on gaspy and elegant chilling moments. Although most of the actual gaspy moments are on the soft side, the film does have quite away with sudden shocks. The backbone for this flick is surely the strong performance by Belén Rueda as Laura, who carries the entire film in a slick manner reminding you of any lead actress on Hitchcock movies.

Laura (Belen Rueda) as a young girl was raised in the orphanage before being adopted. Now in her 30s, she has returned with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and their young son Simon (Roger Princep) to buy the orphanage where she once lived and run it as a home for sick or disabled children. But it was not an ordinary orphanage, some dark secrets revealed. Simon has imaginary friends one of them is a boy with a sack over his head. But is it his imagination or has something terrible happened on that orphanage long time ago?

The line between reality and fantasy is so blurred in the film which will make viewers scratch their heads as the credits rolled but this film is undeniably chilling without any gore and scary without being cheap.

If some elements are familiar for you, like dark corners of the house, bleeding nightmares, grotesque truth and quiet scenes which leads up into a shocking moment, that means Guillermo Del Toro was here, and indeed he was the producer of this Spanish smash hit.

JUNO

Paulie Bleeker: I still have your underwear.
Juno MacGuff: I still have your virginity.
Paulie Bleeker: Would you shut up?

(Fox Searchlight)
Runtime: 90 min

I cannot blame you to hiss like a perturbed snake or frown upon reading the term teen pregnancy which spells trouble for most, but in this feel-good movie about youth irresponsibilty, gets smart and witty at the same time just like Knocked Up with the cleverness of Little Miss Sunshine. It also shows that coming-of-age/teen romantic comedy genre shouldn’t have to be dark and cynical.

Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, a smart mouth 16 year old teenager who “experimented” on having sex with her goofy boyfriend, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). As the result Juno went pregnant. At first she was scared to death, even think to abort her baby. Not until one of her friend said that “baby has fingernails too”, Juno abort her hasty plan. After revealing the truth to her stunningly supportive father Bren (Allison Janney) and step mother Mac (J.K. Simmons), she goes to try to find a good Mommy and Daddy for her unborn child.

Juno finds the perfect couple to adopt, the rich music composer Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner), who live in an expensive house just like as if it was sprung up from any IKEA catalogue.

After the deal is sealed, Juno, who keeps Paulie at a distance, makes periodic visits to the house to show the family ultrasound photos and such. As Mark and Juno grew closer (thank to slasher gore film and music taste), Mark decided to divorce Vanessa, thus jeopardizing Vanessa’s chance of having a baby. Will there be a happy ending? What happened to Paulie then? The result is a heart warming resolution which hinted that sex education is very important for teenagers.

With vocabulary bending dialogue, we should thank Diablo Cody who wrote this story and earn herself a golden statue called Oscar this year. It is certain that Diablo is very familiar with the way teens speak English nowadays with funny catchphrase and smart dialogue. It won’t make you laugh hard but it will make you smile and sometimes sneer and it is charming without being saccharine. It's funny without being rude or dishonest. It's smart without being smart-assed and it is touching without the corny music and dialogue.

HALLAM FOE

Runtime: 95 Min

I never thought that Yamakasi-like ability could really come in handy for a peeping tom. But Hallam Foe proves us that if a weird story abot voyeuristic teen that echoes in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window could run pararell with some romantic oedipal love story helped by his Yamakasi ability.

Hallam Foe (Jamie Bell) is a 17 year old teen who is very paranoid. He thinks his step mother; Verity (Claire Forlani) has conspired to kill his mother. Meanwhile his father Julius Foe (Ciaran Hinds) cannot understand him at all.

Following the death of his mother, Hallam has retreated into his own semi-fantasy world by spying on people around him through a treehouse he built which also a secret shrine for her mother.

When his sister (Lucy Holt) leaves for Australia, Hallam feels isolated, and an “intimate” push-up with his step mother changes everything. Then Hallam set to Edinburgh for a new life, only to find that the sity is a perfetc nest for his voyeuristic orgasm and a once in a lifetime chance to meet Kate (Sophia Myles) who eerily, resembles his late mother. What comes next is a more voyeuristic oedipal quest of a 17 year old boy.

With tight editing, this is not a crowd pleaser but certainly gives us another example of Jamie Bell’s fine acting since Billy Elliot. The spoken English is a little bit difficult to comprehend since thick Scottish accent spreaded here and there.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

(Paramount Vantage)
Runtime: 120 min

This is another miracle just like Fargo. Coen brothers have successfully makes a western that doesn’t feel like western, comedy that disturbingly funny and drama of simple people caught in a twisted fate.

It is the biggest question mark on life where existentialism, determinism, materialism, simple logic, the nature of human being, moral choices, immoral certainties, human nature and fate merged beautifully on the screen. Some audience might scratch the back of their head upon knowing the end. If you have seen Fargo, some elements are still here, the simple minded Sheriff who married to his job, a relentless killer with a deadly smile and a simple guy just stumbling into something bigger than he is.

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is a dangerous killer with his own philosophy, Moss (Josh Brolin) an ex-welder who, while on a hunting trip, stumbles across a remnants of a drug deal gone bad and local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who is drawn into all of this. The three tangled each other in a bizzare way.

With pacing and twist that will surely pound your heart, some dry wit and dark humor inserted, gives the film a Coen feeling.

Javier Bardem deserves his Oscar, his haircut alone terrifies many while Tommy Lee Jones portray a simple minded Sheriff with a funny accent and Josh Brolin has cemented his reputation as one badass tries to make ends meet. This is one of 2007’s best!

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS

(The Weinstein Company)
Runtime: 111 Min

I love Blueberry pie and this film tries to give you the magical healing powers of Blueberry pies to any sadness you have. As Wong Kar Wai’s first English language film, this is as stylish as his previous works and echoes the Chungking Express/In the Mood for Love formula (Broken heart, a melancholic policeman and catchy tunes) plus his trademark of inserting scenes of trains, clocks and neon lights to give the visual mood.

Norah Jones fills the title role, she is a singer, but can she act? Appearantly she can.

I have read the reviews which stated that this film wasn’t as good as Wai’s previous films, but I dare to disagree. Perhaps those reviewers (mostly American) cannot understand how broken heart and melancholy seen from Asian perspective or perhaps Wai just doesn’t want to bother translating it into an American style of lost love.

Elizabeth (Norah Jones) was shocked after having been dumped by longtime boyfriend.
Still hurt and absorbing the usual Denial-Anger–Acceptance phase Elizabeth bumps into Jeremy (Jude Law), the sympathetic British owner of Gotham cafe. One Blueberry pies, then everything spilled.

A hushed kiss is a sign of desperation from Jeremy, and he becomes more desperate as Elizabeth suddenly gone on a soul searching journey as a bartender and waitress where she meets an alcoholic cop, Arnie (David Strathairn), whose sepearation from Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz), proven to be devastative and Leslie (Natalie Portman) an energetic girl with an estrange father daughter relationship plus a gambling addict. Predictably, Leslie and Elizabeth find they have something to learn from one another.

As road movie, there were less than few long shots, the shots were mainly indoors. It seems Wai doesn’t use the usual long shots in every road movie because the road is inside the soul, not on the streets. Unlike Chungking Express with an open ending, this one pleases the crowd with good wrappings in the end.

Overall, I like the mood of this film. Perhaps for non-art movies fans, this film is challenging to comprehend.

THE DARJEELING LIMITED

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Runtime: 91 min

My reaction to The Darjeeling Limited is “Does such trains -let alone journey-ever existed?”, or perhaps it is only in the imagination of Director Wes Anderson? If it is imagination, surely it’s a colourful one, with splendid colours filled the screen.

The jokes are difficult to digest just like The Royal Tennenbaum, although it is still funny. It is about three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) who had not seeing each other since the death of their father.

They are escaping from something: Francis almost have himself killed in an accident, Peter’s girlfriend is pregnant (that was suppose to be the tragedy?) and Jack cannot leave his break-ups easily.

Is it really tragic what had happened with the trio? I don’t think so, but they had to escape, to India (where the colours are more vibrant), to fulfill their thirst on spiritual journey (Why not Vegas?) and they embark themselves on a train, a surrealistic train in which they have to dwell the same compartement together. As expected, the journey goes awry with lots of distraction here and there. At the end of their journey is their mother, Patricia (Anjelica Huston), who also list “escape from reality” as one of her hobby, makes us understand why these kids have the “escapist” genes. Each of these characters has odd features. Francis's face is heavily and artistically bandaged, Jack is very jumpy and Peter collects their father’s stuff.

There's also the constant presence of 11 pieces of luggage - a legacy of their father with which they are unwilling to part and in the end of the film, they throw away the luggage, perhaps as a symbol of letting go anything that has burdened them in the past.

Short movie fans might like the prologue for The Darjeeling Limited - a 12-minute short called Hotel Chevalier where Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman engage in an odd romantic conversation and Natalie bares (almost) all and brings the audience new information about Jack’s character. This is a tale of emotional healing through a journey, where the escapist finds out that there’s no cure for life after all.

MICHAEL CLAYTON

(Warner Brothers)
Runtime: 119 Min

Roughly said, this is the show about the battle of the janitors, one is evil with an ounce of conscience and the other one is deadly evil with no conscience. Or people can say, George Clooney show, minus Danny Ocean self confidence plus the ruthless rhetoric and Syriana-like of conspiracy. This directorial debut of screenwriter Tony Gilroy (responsible for Jason Bourne trilogy), is an intelligent thriller that moves slowly but sure and gives us a screaming intellectual orgasm in the end. The dense narrative and smart lines gives the audience no place to stop by to ponder and may cause confusion. If you have seen The Insider (1999) you might recognize the elements; people in the grey areas, corporate vs the people, difficult plot to digest and the quintessential question of all: does money means everything in life?

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a special kind of lawyer, an in-house "fixer" at the law firm of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen - a man who defines himself as a janitor instead of a miracle worker. Life has been unkind with Michael, apart from his Esquire magazine front cover looks and a sleek S-Class Mercedes, he hates his job, has an unsettled gambling debt and a strained relationship with his son. Not to mention his friend and co-janitor, Arthur (Tom Wilkinson), has gone “lunatic”. Arthur decided to switch sides, trying to uncover U/North conspiracy to in a class action law suit.

U/north is Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's biggest clients and Michael was ordered by the firm’s Don, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), to clean the “mess” or they will lose millions of dollar of legal fees. Then enter the other janitor, the witch of U/Narnia, erm… U/north, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) who is willing to strech the real meaning of blunting the damages Arthur may cause at all costs.

This is a film about characters that inhabit the gray area between morality and immorality, where everyone has a different definition of what constitutes ethics. Just like in real life, the three dimensional characters are the end products of “the end justify its means” culture. As the only film which nominated in more than one acting category in this year Academy Awards, this one is worth your time.

I wonder why I haven’t seen such a slick and smart thriller from Indonesian movies. Aren’t the audiences getting sick of a wafer thin happy ending plot from another wafer thin horror-teen love flicks? I’d love to write such stuff, but I need time to learn screenwriting.

INTO THE WILD

(Paramount Vantage)
Runtime: 150 min

"Death's a fierce meadowlark but to die having made something more equal to centuries than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness. The mountains are dead stone, the people Admire or hate their stature, their insolent quietness, the mountains are not softened or troubled and a few dead men's thoughts have the same temper."

-From the last post of Chris McCandless journal-

I always had a dream of this sort of journey, where we turn our back on our so called hedonistic society and march our way towards the wilderness to celebrate the unity of a simple man with the unforgiving nature. That was a dream I had between awake and sleep, the dream to view society as objectively as it can from the outside.

Fueled by Tolstoy, Thoreau and Yeats, Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a young man raised in an upper class family discarded his entire existence so he could make his way to Alaska and survive in a society of untamed solitude.

What was to be seen is breathtaking, dozens or more postcard like scene of the beautiful American wilderness and a journey of one man against all odds.

Powered by flashbacks to provide a back story, Sean Penn didn’t paint Chris as a near perfect hero. When finally Chris already reached his goal: the unspoiled Alaskan wilderness, perhaps he find himself and be a happy man. Surely this sort of journey is very interesting, how one person with a wide privilege decide to turn his back against civilization and try to find himself in the most extreme situation.

It is said that in road movies, the journey is what matters, not the destination. For Chris this is what he wants all his life, to be away from the cage of materialism. It is a physical journey that will make you appreciate the nature more and recognize the spiritual journey inside. It is also a film that inspires you to become a better person.

Still, after the movie ends, the idea of living alone in the wild is very seductive; perhaps we can found something inside us we never realize exist at all. But does everybody need to get through what Chris had been through? Appreciating the nature, unlocking our soul from the madding crowd and do whatever it takes to prevent Global Warming? Yes, but unplanned journey fired up only with idealism and no serious plan to survive? No, since what is the use of a journey if you have to die because of starvation? We don’t have to die to appreciate life objectively. Besides, in my humble opinion, wouldn’t it be nice to share the beauty of this world with someone you love instead of enjoying it alone?

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

(Paramount Vantage)
Runtime: 158 min

Judging from the title, I thought this is the Saw franchise spin-off, as you know, Jigsaw says his famous “Yes there will be blood” line on Saw II. But it turns out to be more gross and disturbing than Saw or any gore flick, without any gore at all. The music and atmosphere scared the shit out of me, but I just cannot turn my face, the bleaker it goes the more you do not want to close your eyes.

Definitely not a crowd pleaser, with runtime more than two hours you can hear many yawns here and there. The whole film gravitates around Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), an oil businessman at the early 20th century who works hard to be an oil mogul. After a near death accident, Daniel take care an orphan, which later is named H.W (no hint on what that means).

By 1912, Daniel has become a notorious oil man, and looking to expand his wealth. Accompanied by his partner, Fletcher (Ciarán Hinds), he travels to California to follow a promising lead. What he finds there astonishes him. He seeks to buy large portion of land but stumble upon a preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), who wants Daniel to donate his money to the local church before he sells. After the contract is signed, however, Daniel does not keep his promises, and shortly thereafter, once the first drill has become operational, there is an accident that costs H.W. his hearing.

Daniel is a fascinating character and full of hatred: “I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” Daniel bluntly admits ”There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money that I can get away from everyone.” Daniel is a monster who hates all men, including him, he has no friends, lovers, real partners even he treat his adopted son just like a tool to reach his wealth.

But can he get away with things he despises most? Does the massive amount of wealth he accumulates do something to redeem his poisoned conscience? He knows how to manipulate every situation to his advantage. He understands the business of oil and transforms himself from a poor miner into a wealthy businessman who can stand up to the mighty Standard Oil but the richer he gets the more corrupt, conflicted and decay he becomes. In many ways, he's a tragic figure we hate to love, a mixture of Travis Bickle and Richard Nixon.

What cause this man to be monstrous and borderline antisocial? One can only wonder since no clue on Daniel’s past given here.

The first 15 minutes provide you with no dialogue at all, the score sucks the happines out of you and the cinematography is stunning, remind me of some old dark noir.

The production team has worked very well recreating early 20th century oil rig plus give the viewers some insight on how dangerous the search for black gold can be.

Entire cast looks to have stepped out of a photo album from a century ago. Kudos to Daniel Day Lewis who immerse so deep in his character even speak a distinct accent (I never been to Texas but it sounded like a very unique English) and remind me of Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York.

If you do not like anything disturbing that will rip your soul apart and then put it together in a despicable manner, do not watch this film, but if you want to watch a stellar performance with a Kubrick level masterpiece, yes There Will be an Oscar!