THE YEAR OF WATCHING DANGEROUSLY or HOW AN EPIPHANY BREAK MY DREAM IN 24 FRAMES PER SECOND

It started with Avatar, the so called ground breaking visual orgasm which re-defines 3-D in theatres then a slew of fake 3 D movies hit the screens, hoping to cash in from higher admission price.

Unfortunately, fake 3 D or a converted one is plain sucks in terms of visual and ripping of the cash of decent people who wanted nothing but some entertainment to endure their daily tension (Clash of the Titans, Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, My Soul to Take, Nutcracker in 3D, Piranha 3-D, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Last Airbender).

Those studios just want to rip our pocket by releasing a converted movie. Sadly this trend will still follow in years to come, check The Green Hornet for instance. It wasn't even shot in 3-D but they marketed it with strong 3 D gimmick. Not to mention the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

To make things clear, here are movies not in 3-D but converted into it which will be released in 2011; Captain America, Green Lantern, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Priest, The Cabin in the Woods, The Green Hornet, The Smurfs and Thor.

Source: http://realorfake3d.com/

So don't say I haven't warned you.

Some have the decency to really shoot in 3 D like Step Up 3 D, Resident Evil: Afterlife and Saw 7 in 3 D, as for the latter I haven't seen it at all. It doesn't even show here.

I know, shooting in 3 D takes much effort and time but for the love of decency, stop converting those movies in 3 D and didn't tell us about it. All they need is to be honest in telling the audience that it was a converted one. Besides in the age of twitter and facebook, anyone can find the information whether the movie is in real or fake 3 D.

Lucky for me after hearing how viewers complained about the low quality of converted 3 D movies, I didn't even watch any of them at all in 3 D.

Now let's move on to other subject. As we all know, the title of this blog is movie addict 101. Well it doesn't live up to it's title since what sort of a movie addict who only write 30++ reviews in a year? For the love of blueberry juice, there are 52 weeks in a year, why only 30++? It is not even an addict at all, I suspect I am writing all these reviews while I am snoring on my desk and my fingers mysteriously just tap in into the keyboards.

Well, I am just plain busy, besides I used to have the policy of only reviewing new movies. I do watch movies but most of them are old ones and sometimes to find the right mood to review it is like to find an ice cream in a salad bar. Which is easy, just walk few meters, find the nearest supermarket and buy an ice cream. What is difficult is the motivation to buy the ice cream and whether you had the money to buy it at all.

However I do have some regrets. I wish I have reviewed Old Dogs. I don't care what the critics said about this one but heck, it was the funniest movie of 2010 and it makes me laugh so hard but how can a review filled only with 'Hahahahahahhahaha' for six paragraph? Although that would be a revolution in itself and it would save time.

I also wish I have reviewed Wall Street 2 and off course The Ghostwriter, I liked it very much but I am too busy to write it down. The Ghostwriter is actually one of my favorite in 2010.

Now I will try to review old movies I have seen for 2011, you know, to live up to the title of this blog, to give the word 'addict' it's true meaning; more reviews. Perhaps some Tarkovsky and Ozu to make it sound pretentious, self-centered and full of myself?

Actually, do people read my blog? How come after years of me blogging I rarely got any feedback at all? Do I have to put someone naked in my blog to attract comments? I am thinking to put a nude cat here, just in case. I think no one is reading my blog and I don't know why I am still writing. Heck, I just write. Just like those people who dance even if there is no one watching or like Lady Gaga who wears some clothes made of meat to get attention, wait the minute, she did get the attention.

To put cherry on top, here's my personal 2010 best movies, not in numerical order and I refuse to give star to my reviews since I want people to decide it by them self by reading it.

Sorry Old Dogs and Iron Man 2 doesn't make the cut. They are entertaining but forgetful.

So here's the list with the link into my own review on it. Talking about being a narcissist eh? No I haven't seen True Grit and The King's Speech although I had a hunch these movies are good too and can manage to be in my favorite 2010 movies. So feel free to click the link which will not lead you into some spam password stealing site with unblock-able pop ups about ceramics and botox, but my own review inside this blog.

The one with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis doing something you wished for years to happen

The one with Ben Affleck robbing banks

The one where Ryan Reynolds got buried

The one where life is just a game

The one with the virginity on it

The one about that social networking site people use to stalk their exes

The one that blur the line between mocking and documenting

The one that you cannot dreamed of

The one which actually released in 2009 but I have seen it this year therefore I would like to make it qualified here. Why? Because I can.

The one with Toothless in it

That Hindi film that ran for three or four months here

The one that makes fun of this country

The one with Leonardo DiCaprio inside an asylum

Hey, don't you just go and write funny status on Facebook yet, check this one I dig from my own post in 2007! [There's nothing shameless than keep self-referencing my own blogs for shameless desire of promotion] It's about something relevant and the weird thing is, I even laugh at my own writing, talking about masturbation of the mind eh?

FOURTEEN RADICAL WAYS TO IMPROVE CINEMATIC VIEWING IN INDONESIA

BLACK SWAN

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

I am not a big fan of ballet show. I don't even know what ballet is all about although I did enjoy some of the music. But I have seen some documentary showing how hard it is to train to become a ballerina. Being a ballet dancer, a good one, you must be exposed to hard training and the philosophy of pleasing others since you were young. I wonder whether it can also damage the soul, not only the physique. However I find ballet as a form of art under appreciated for it's rigorous training and preparation.

However what I like from this film is how Aronofsky manages to make ballet accessible to most viewers by tying it into his favorite theme, obsession. Aronofsky's movies are full of obsession. Pi is about a man's obsession on numbers, Requiem for a Dream is about obsession with drugs and happiness, The Fountain is about a husband's obsession with his wife and The Wrestler is about an aging wrestler obsessed to make his own last action.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a dedicated ballerina. You can see how her mother is very protective and intrusive about Nina's career up to a level of horrific intrusion. The director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) makes a decision to put on a new rendition of the classic Swan Lake. With the leading ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder in her short but stunning performance) forced into retirement, Nina is chosen to be the swan queen and ordered to embody black and white swan.

Nina take it too seriously, she danced tried to be so perfect. Meanwhile she face a competition from Lily (Mila Kunis), another ballerina and Thomas, although brilliant, seem to abuse his powers to Nina. Soon she began to question her sanity, what is real and not began to blur.

The rest is a horrific tale on obsession and what it cost to be perfect. You can see both sides of Nina, the innocent and sexually repressed little girl whose sole purpose of her life is to please her mother and in the end, turns into a 'black swan' who can dance as if she become, not only act it on the stage.

The last 30 minutes is a thrill that makes you remember why you like movies, it's the experience of watching fine acting from all of the castand directing that mimics life and takes your soul into a ride you never take before. It's not as mindfuck as Inception or as visually orgasmic as Avatar, but this one is an artgasm that cannot be translated into words. It's the feeling of content and catharsis upon viewing one of this year's great film.

Aronofsky has a talent and by this, I am waiting for his next movie. I hope Wolverine will be another The Dark Knight from Aronofsky.

THE TOURIST

Directed by: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Have you ever cried after watching a film? This one will make you cry so hard you forget what the film is all about. Check this fact; it is directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, an Oscar winner for The Lives of Others (which I have seen three times since I loved it very much), then there is the eternally sexy Angelina Jolie (she can wear a potato sack, thrown into a puddle of mud and screaming something in Latin and still look sexy) with Johnny Depp (He's a talented actor with Ed Wood and Donnie Brasco in his resume).

Throw Lady Gaga into the mix and a 3-D convert, this one is a sure Oscar winner. It is a a sarcasm in case you don't get it. Donnersmarck just waste a handful of talent and money for this soulless film. To add salt to the wound, The Tourist made it into the Golden Globe awards. Was the jury also crying when they watch this film?

The remake of Anthonny Zimmer, a French movie made in 2005 is more glossy and expensive but has no chemistry between the two lead.

The story is around Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp), a tourist visiting Italy. He crosses his path with Elise (Angelina Jolie) a woman who wanted to shake the Interpol and mafia of her tail.

Elise met Frank on a train so the one who trail her will be fooled that Frank is Anthony Pearce, the man sought by mafia and Interpol for stealing so much money from the mafia and tax evasion from the government.

In paper it is an interesting story, with the spirit of North by Northwest from Alfred Hitchcock, but on screen it just fail.

Johnny Depp seem has no interest in acting in this film, he looked like as if he is just a tourist in this film. Meanwhile Angelina Jolie looks dazzling as ever, she is perhaps the only reason why this film still has appeal.

The rest is just another yawn-fest with weird dialogues, no chemistry between actors and so-so action scenes.

I don't know what Donnersmarck want with this film, is it a comedy? Some scenes can make you grin politely but that's it. Drama? Zero chemistry between actors . Action? It feels like a TV movie. Does it make you want to visit Venice? Only if your bank account is as fat as Jolie's.

So feel free to cry since all of the good element Donnersmarck had, he cannot manage it to make it into a good film. It makes you wish that perhaps Donnersmarck just have to stick with making serious movie only.

BURIED

Directed by: Rodrigo Cortés

Call it crazy, cheap, film student-like movie, but Buried is a scary thriller. This is not recommended for claustrophobic people or those who wanted to become a vampire.

The idea behind this is crazy, just one person in one coffin for the whole film and that's it. With an opening which can remind you of Hitchcock film in the 60s, the whole film rely on Ryan Reynolds as Paul Conroy, tight editing and a thrilling script.

Paul Conroy is a truck driver in Iraq, he is captured and confined alive in a coffin somewhere in Baquba, Iraq. Armed with only zippo lighter, a hand phone and some fluorescent light he has to race with time and oxygen supply to save himself.

It is clear that the kidnapper wanted to contact him through the hand phone. Using the phone he contacted the FBI and his family too.

Only Conroy get screen time, you seen him from the beginning to the end and the rest of the cast like FBI agent or his wife and mother existed only in voices Conroy heard from the phone.

This is a thought provoking film from another level, it puts a lot of thing in a new perspective. War, innocence, guilt, ignorance and humanity can be put inside one small coffin and one actor only.

Although set inside a coffin, no shot is boring, Cortés managed to squeeze many shot inside a small space and Ryan Reynolds do a convincing job as a man trapped inside a coffin.

Sure some flaws existed like how come his zippo lighter can burn for so long without consuming the oxygen inside the coffin and other 'gadget' that seem to be added so the film has a dim light. But the whole idea behind this claustrophobic adventure is fresh.

THE TOWN

Directed by: Ben Affleck

There's something about The Town that remind me of Heat (1995) by Michael Mann. First the template story about a bad guy trying to live a straight life, a smart law enforcement agent that will do anything to nail that guy, one last heist for the protagonist to make it right and a deadly shoot out to finish everything. In the middle of it stand one woman the protagonist really care.

Stemming from Bostonian sub-culture, there is no better filmmaker to capture this than Ben Affleck. As we know, he and his buddy Matt Damon successfully write Good Will Hunting but strings of his appearances in Gigli and Daredevil turns me off. However having read all the raving reviews on this film, it turns me on again.

The Town opened with a sophisticated and successful bank robbery. Here Ben Affleck plays Doug MacRay, a guy with bank robbery runs in his blood. His father is also a bank robber and sentenced in prison for so many years.

Doug head a four men team and most notably is the trigger happy temperamental Jem Coughlin (Jeremy Renner, showcasing his acting muscles) who happen to be angry all the time and being a best friend to Doug. During the robbery Doug and his team take Claire (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage and release her afterward, without harm.

It turns out that Claire lives only four blocks away from the robbers and Jem, being paranoid wanted to 'eliminate' Claire. But Doug has better option, he start dating Claire, thus make things more complicated.

In other end of the town there is an FBI agent Frawley (John Hamm), itching wanting to nail Doug and his crews for bank robberies, he just have no evidence at all and his only witness is Claire.

Meanwhile Doug has to lay low while the neighborhood crime boss known as the Florist (a chilling Pete Postlethwaite), who has a strange hold over Doug, insists they pull off one more heist. This is the last heist that will determine everything, including Doug and Claire's fate.

Perhaps you have seen such story in dozens of movies but what makes The Town different and a strong Oscar contender is how tightly paced and stunning the performances are. The shootout is generic, Heat is better but still, it can make you hold your breath.

BABIES

Directed by: Thomas Balmès

Prove it that you have a heart by watching this film, If you are not moved or at least utter 'aww wasn't that cute' I believe you might be Chucky from that Chucky franchise.

It is the documentary without any narration or dialogue at all, leaving the audience to watch the babies as they do their thing all by them self. Actually, even though you had a baby at home and can say 'Damn, documentary on babies? I have at home and it's like 24/7' this film is still attractive.

There are four babies being featured here; Ponijao from Opuwo, Namibia who drink water from the gutter, Mari who is being raised in Tokyo, Japan. Bayar (short for Bayarjargal) a boy from a farm in Mongol and Hattie from San Francisco, California.

It is a modern vs traditional way of upbringing. Marie and Hattie has a clean environment where their parents shower their kids with toys and activities whereas Ponijao and Bayar is one with the nature with less toys and activities but still active to search and explore their new world.

They are cute in their own way, Marie is frustrated with her toys and cries while Bayar was left in the field with goats. Although they were raised in a different situation but they all went into almost the same phase, crying, sitting, crawling, babbling and then standing.

Babies is enlightening, it open new horizon on cultural differences in raising children. I feel this one as a visual lecture on socio-ethnology class and it is entertaining. What come as an objection is this parade of cuteness lasted for 80 minutes only, since I believe no one would mind if it runs for four hours. Those who mind are people without heart I guess.

SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD

Directed by: Edgar Wright

I am not a big fan of game or console. I don't even have one. Sure I have once played a game on Nintendo, PlayStation and PC, but not XBox. I just play for the sake of curiosity and I didn't even play all of the games, it is just a simple fun for me. In fact, I am not a gamer at all and I am not interested that much in game.

Not only that, I don't watch movies adapted from video games seriously, not only it has bad quality, I am not interested in it at all.

So this movie is the combination of things I rarely do in my life, reading comics and playing a video game, although I am familiar with its visual style. As for me I didn't read Scott Pilgrim comic at all, I tend to see this film as a stand alone art.

At first I am a bit skeptical on this film, it is a bit campy and laughable but then after I saw it, actually this one is cool and fun to watch. Unlike that excruciating Uwe Boll's adaptation, this one is full with hyper indie music and quirkiness.

At the center of this movie is Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) some sort of guy next door with ueber geek/nerdy attitude. He dated a High School girl and hasn't recovered from being dumped by his ex-girlfriend.

Then he falls for Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) some sort of generic version of Summer from (500) Days of Summer, lest bitchy though.

But to win Ramona's heart is an uphill battle for Scott, he has to fight her seven ex-lovers (one of them is a girl!) to have Ramona. Not only that he has problems with his High School Girlfriend. In the ultimate battle, he will settle all bad bloods and tie all the knots.

Anyone familiar with video game visual style will be entertained by this third film from Edgar Wright, there are heavy use of CGI to enhance the story and all the funny things that can make you feel nostalgic as you have once play arcade games as you were a boy. This is a homage to video game culture and please, just suspend you disbelief for this one since everything and everyone in this movie seem to have no problems with characters suddenly fighting and destroying each other in a video game fashion. If you never ever played any arcade games or video games at all, don't bother watching this one, it could bore you.

The story itself is quite fresh and interesting, how the search and battle for love can be tied into video game culture is an achievement of it's own. Actually I don't know which game this movie adhere into (if there is one) but I can enjoy the whole thing.

As for Michael Cera, I think he need to chose another role besides being a nerdy and a social misfit character, he began to look like a typecast for such role.