All About Movie Scenes

I choose my answers based on the exceptional ones from the top of my head. It will probably not be the most memorable ones, or the most favourite ones. Cause if we talk about favourites, I'm sure there's a lot more that are still hidden in my mind .. hahah .. too many movies. Watch out for spoilers!

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[Opening Credits]:
Band of Brothers. I love the montage. The style of old pictures complete with the scratches, the slow motion, and most of all, along with the haunting score of Michael Kamen. It contains the best scenes of the whole series. No matter how many times it plays, I never get bored of it. And My Best Friend's Wedding. The animation is cute, the song is cheerfully nice .. by the minute I saw it, I knew that I was gonna love the whole movie. Panic Room, all the casts' name on top of the skyscrapers.

[Waking Up]:
Back to the Future, when Marty woke up after the accident. "You're my ma .. you're my ma ..". And also after Marty came back to the future .. and saw things were changed drastically. Band of Brothers Episode 5, the morning wake up.

[Average Day]:
Groundhog Day. It is boring and unique at the same time, knowing that how much people can do and improve their life by repeating the day. And Return to the Blue Lagoon. Happy, undisturbed by the civilization.

[Best Friend Scene]:
My Best Friend's Wedding, the dance on boat. A Walk in the Clouds, drink and sing.

[First date scene]:
The Godfather, Michael Corleone and Apolonia, with her relatives tailing from behind.

[Falling in Love scene]:
Superman II, when Lois was flying with Superman. "Can you read my mind?". And Beauty and the Beast when Belle taught Beast how to feed the birds. Anastasia, the waltz of Dmitri and Anya.

[Love scene]:
Many. A Walk in the Clouds, when Victoria taught Paul how to fan the frozen grapes. Message in a Bottle, the popcorn fight between Garret and Theresa. Ada Apa dengan Cinta?, the cooking time. Beauty and the Beast, the dance. Phenomenon, when Lace gave George a hair cut and a shave. Titanic, learning to fly. Love Actually, "To me, you are perfect".

[Fight with best friend scene]:
My Dog Skip, when Willie slapped Skip away.

[Fight with Lover scene]:
Ada Apa dengan Cinta? Of course, Cinta and Rangga fought all the time. But the exceptional one is when Cinta said that since she knew Rangga, she became a different person. And the way Rangga responded to her, was very cool! I couldn't think of else, except that would serve her right.

[Break up scene]:
Jerry Maguire. You know, when Jerry bowed his head in front of Dorothy, hearing her saying the words. He seemed so helpless for not be able to stop her from leaving.

[Get back together scene]:
Jerry Maguire. "You had me at hello."

["Life's Okay" scene]:
Life is Beautiful. When Guido pretended in front of his son, that he was going to play instead of going to the execution.

[Heartbreak scene]:
Fly Me to Polaris, the swimming pool scene. *sniff*. And The Pianist, when Szpilman was separated from his family. Love Actually, in the bedroom, after Karen found out her gift was not the same as the one she found out before. Deep Impact .. when mom said goodbye to her daughter and her baby .. o, I cried badly seeing this scene. =( =(.

[Mental breakdown scene]:
Beth, Nurul Arifin's tears near the ending. Sunset Boulevard, the ending .. creepy.

[Driving scene]:
The Fast and the Furious, racing with the train. And oh .. is riding horse can be considered as driving? =D. I would like to recommend the way Arwen rode her horse, trying to get away from the Ringwraiths in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Man, it was intense!

[Makeout scene]:
Indecent Proposal. Bed, money . making love on the bed covered with lots of money .. sexy sexy. This is no ordinary love.

[Lesson learning scene]:
My Fair Lady. When Eliza accidentally swallowed the marbles. *lol*.

[Deep thought scene]:
"So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'" - American History X, the voice over of Danny Vinyard .. the ending with a sight of the ocean. (Note:The quote is modified from the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861).

[Flashback scene]:
The ending of The Sixth Sense. O the flashback got me .. I felt so so stupid.

[Party scene]:
A Walk in the Clouds .. the harvest. When all the grapes were poured into a big barrel, and the women danced inside the barrel, stepping onto the grapes with bare feet. Other people were standing around them, playing music and clapping hands. It was a merry-wild party .. the Mexican way.

[Happy dance scene]:
Big, the giant keyboards dance. In & Out, the "I Will Survive" dance. Scent of a Woman, the tango dance.

[Regret scene]:
Patch Adams .. "I taught her the medicine that killed her". And at Carin's coffin, Patch read the poem, "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: Where “I” does not exist, nor “You”, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep." Then he stopped, cried and kissed the coffin, saying he was sorry. (Note: The poem is free-translated from Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda).

[Long night alone scene]:
Ju-On: The Grudge. Ok, this is definately not my favorite, but .. phew .. when the girl was lying down on her bed, and the child ghost appeared from under her blanket, and when she looked up above her head, there was this girl ghost looking at her .. *looking for a safer place to hide*.

[Death scene]:
Ringu, the appearance. WARNING: Scary as hell. And My Dog Skip .. you look at him in the eyes, and you see the life he's been through .. touching.

[Closing scene]:
Notting Hill, when the pregnant Anna lay her head on William's lap. William was reading a book, sitting on a bench in the park. Silently, peacefully, they said nothing at all. And Dead Poets Society, when the students climbed on the top of their desks .. "O Captain, my Captain".

[Credits]:
Most of Jacky Chan's movies, with the outtakes.


@)-->----- Originally posted in CineFriends on May 17, 2004. Edited with video links.

In the Cinema

Countdown to Titanic

On April 6, 2012, to commemorate 100 years of the doomed ship, Titanic will be re-released in 3D.

I've looked it up on my calendar. It's next year Good Friday, a public holiday. And happens to be my birthday as well (yes, I've looked up on my birth certificate too, I swear).

James Cameron presented the exclusive premiere of the new trailer last Thursday, exclusively on Facebook.

After double cinema visits, countless peeks on TV, multiple viewings of my Titanic (Three-Disc Special Collector's Edition), I hereby am starting a countdown and hoping that the local cinema schedule won't put it into any kind of ridiculous delays ..

I once had written a very long post about this James Cameron's Titanic to its defense. True, not all people like or love this movie. Regardless the subjective nature of movie-watching experience, I've heard 3 main reasons that caused Titanic losing some of the love:

1. The cheesy love story - yes, it is cheesy indeed.
2. The miscast of Leonardo DiCaprio - yes, but look how good he is now as an actor.
3. The over-length of its running time - no. We already got used to watch epic movies that tend to run long.


A repost with additional links - Watch out for major spoilers!

Dulu banget .. tahun berapa sih Titanic ini masuk ke Indonesia? 1997 ya? Tahun segitu tuh, gue murni milih film berdasarkan kata hati aja. Jadi belom kenal yang namanya milis film, belom pernah yang namanya baca-baca review kritikus lewat internet (paling dari koran aja, itu juga kalo pas nemu .. atau dari Cinema-Cinema RCTI yang banyak spoiler tapi masih rajin gue tonton waktu itu). Minimal banget gue kena hype.

Of course, sebelum gue nonton, gue udah pernah liat poster Titanic di lobby-lobby bioskop. Gimana ga mau liat, wong posternya itu gede dan keren.

Gue tau Leonardo DiCaprio main di sini. In my book, Leo is not a bad actor, karena gue pernah sampe terlongo-longo ngeliat dia di serial Growing Pains sama film The Basketball Diaries. Yang terakhir ini, gue ga suka sama filmnya, tapi aktingnya Leo was a blast. Gue ga tau Kate Winslet itu siapa, ga peduli juga. Apalagi sama sutradaranya. Tau James Cameron aja baru beberapa tahun setelahnya .. hehe ..

Jadi apa yang bikin gue tertarik nonton Titanic? Kisahnya dong. Gue tau Titanic itu kapal terkenal yang tenggelam, yang memakan korban sampe ribuan orang .. that's it. Detailnya gelap bener. Padahal sih tertarik banget buat tau lebih banyak, cuma gue ini paling males sedunia buat ngubek-ngubek berita. Nah, mumpung dibikin filmnya nih, dan gue bisa nonton .. jadi gue pasti nonton lah. Juga biasanya film-film bencana itu seru.

Satu hari di hari Selasa siang .. gue lupa tanggalnya .. gue diajak nonton sama cowok gue (sekarang udah mantan) di Hollywood KC 21. Kita ga tau mo nonton film apa, jadi go show aja gitu. Malah ga liat poster yang dipajang di atas Hollywood KC pula. Jadi masuk lobby, langsung ke loket milih film. Pake free pass VIP, yang berarti, ga perlu rebutan nomor kursi karena buat VIP ini udah dialokasikan satu baris seat pas di tengah-tengah studio. Asik kan? Lebih asik lagi, baru ketauan kalo pas jam segitu, ternyata filmnya Titanic (belakangan gue liat di poster depan, ga ada lho Titanic dipasang. Berarti ini seperti sneak show gitu ya?). Jadilah kita berdua beli itu. Wuih. Nggak disangka, nggak dikira .. Studio juga cuma isi ga sampe setengah.

Begitu film dimulai, perhatian gue udah ditarik sama ilustrasi riak-riak air yang kelam, penumpang yang melambai-lambaikan tangan di atas kapal megah .. dan musiknya yang sendu banget. Kegembiraan yang terselingi dengan isyarat-isyarat tragedi yang menanti di ujung kisah, karena warna-warna sephia-nya seperti melukiskan masa lalu gitu. Film baru mulai aja gue udah merasa pahit banget .. gue pikir, waduh, ini mereka semua nanti bakalan mati tenggelam .. anak-anak, orang tua, suami, istri, kekasih .. terus waktu adegan ganti baru deh lumayan cerah dikit.

Kalo mo dibagi jadi dua bagian, Titanic punya present and past. Yang present, menurut gue biasa-biasa aja. Gue ga gitu peduli sama team penyelam yang dipimpin oleh Bill Paxton. Paling yang menarik waktu bangkai kapal Titanic dan remainings-nya di-link ke gambaran kemewahan Titanic sewaktu belum tenggelam. Sampe muncul karakter yang diperankan Gloria Stuart, yang sampe saat ini masih gue kategorikan sebagai "nenek centil" karena dandanannya yang sophisticated di usia setua itu (liat aja, masih pake nail-polish .. hahaha ..). Narasi dan ekspresi Old Rose waktu menceritakan kisahnya itu baguuuuus banget.

Bagian past yang mengambil porsi terbesar dari film ini, merupakan bagian yang luar biasa. Warnanya soft, hangat, penuh cahaya emas (jelas ini sebelum tabrakan yang langsung mengubah warna menjadi biru, hitam dan dingin) .. mewah dah. Rose pertama kali gue spot waktu dia turun dari kereta kudanya. Hoo .. jadi ini yang namanya Kate Winslet. Biasa aja kok ya? Gemuk pula. Terus muncul Jack. Hehe .. Leo is Leo, no further comment. Dan kisah mereka berdua yang mengalir sesudahnya .. er .. terus terang, gue sadar kalo gue salah menilai Titanic .. awalnya gue pikir film tentang bencana, ternyata ini film tentang cinta berlatar belakang bencana.

Yeah, kisah cinta antara Rose dan Jack yang mengambil fokus utama. Gue ga punya masalah sama love stories .. tapi ini .. kayaknya ada yang salah. Rose terlalu dewasa buat Jack. Atau Jack yang terlalu boyish buat Rose. Pokoknya ga cocok deh. Tadinya gue pikir yang salah casting itu Kate Winslet. Ternyata .. seiring dengan jalannya film .. karakter Rose itu semakin berkembang. Dan di mata gue, Rose berubah dari sosok yang angkuh dan gempal .. menjadi sosok yang vulnerable, tapi punya pribadi yang kuat .. dan Kate Winslet sebagai Rose Dawson semakin lama keliatan semakin muda dan cantik. Sangat cantik. Buat gue, Kate Winslet memberikan beberapa adegan yang paling memorable dalam film ini. Gue ga bicara tentang adegan meludah ya .. yang selain lucu, tapi tetap menjijikkan .. euw .. =D. I'm talking about these .. ga ada yang bisa mengalahkan sesaknya isak tangis Rose waktu dia bertengkar dengan tunangannya yang keren itu (o yeah, Billy Zane emang keren .. hehehe ..) sampe meja dilempar terbalik, ga ada yang bisa menandingi innocent-nya (dan panasnya) Rose waktu dilukis, atau perasaan campur aduk yang tersorot dari mata Rose sewaktu dia ada di dalam sekoci dan memandang Jack yang masih ada di atas Titanic .. or .. *sigh* .. pedihnya ngeliat Rose yang susah payah nyebur ke air dingin, terus niup peluit .. ngiris banget ..

Sedangkan Jack Dawson .. well .. begitu-begitu aja. Gue ga ngeliat pesona Leo di sini. Malah sempet heran juga sama penonton-penonton yang berseru kagum di adegan Jack didandani sama Kathy Bates. Akting Leo pun standar banget. Di adegan Jack teriak "I'm the king of the World" yang harusnya bisa ngangkat lepas sampe di titik tertinggi kegembiraan, ga nyampe banget .. ekspresinya artificial. Waktu Jack ngajak Rose dansa terus diputer-puter sampe gue yang nonton jadi mabok, ketawanya Jack juga jelek banget. Malah di bagian akhir, waktu Jack dan Rose mengucapkan perpisahan, dimana adegan itu dimaksud menguras air mata, gue malah merasa itu adegan yang paling menggelikan. Karena Jack .. karena Leo .. Leo mesti diajarin lagi gimana cara bicara sambil menggigil kedinginan yang baik dan benar. Paling yang dapet nilai bagus di mata gue waktu Jack menegur Rose "How could you be so stupid???" Sayang banget ga sih .. karakter Jack Dawson yang harusnya menjadi sumber inspirasi dan sumber kekuatan untuk Rose (bahkan kalo mau diagungkan lagi .. bisa menjadi serupa legenda yang magis karena katanya ga ada catatan nama Jack di daftar penumpang), ternyata cuma dibawain segitu aja sama Leonardo Di Caprio.

Tapi memang ya .. yang bikin kagum itu pas mulai kapal nabrak gunung es, sampe detik dia tenggelam. Gilaaaaa .. itu kayaknya panjaaaaaaaang banget, ga abis-abis .. Detil dan bikin depresi. Menonton adegan Titanic berada di posisi nyaris tegak lurus .. gue serasa ikut berpegangan bersama Jack dan Rose di railing kapal .. dan melihat orang-orang terpelanting ke bawah .. terus ikut tersedot pusaran air sewaktu Titanic akhirnya tenggelam. Sisi-sisi kemanusiaan yang digambarkan (termasuk kelompok pemain musik yang bertekad akan terus menghibur penumpang sampe mereka sama sekali ga bisa bermain lagi, pasangan suami-istri tua yang berpelukan di atas tempat tidur pasrah menanti ajal karena mereka tau ga ada lagi yang bisa menyelamatkan mereka, ibu yang masih sanggup menghibur anak-anaknya di dalam ruangan kelas tiga, desainer Titanic yang bertanggung jawab dan berbesar hati menerima konsekuensi tenggelam bersama hasil desainnya), walaupun getir masih mampu memperlihatkan kepahlawanan dan pengorbanan cinta di sana-sini. Bukan dari karakter utamanya, tapi dari karakter-karakter tanpa nama. Fakta-fakta yang dibeberkan bikin gue ikut-ikutan menyesal banget-banget, menyadari Titanic tenggelam karena keangkuhan manusia juga.

Hal-hal inilah yang menguras emosi penonton. Kalo dibilang Titanic menjual detil tanpa memperhatikan perkembangan karakter dan cerita .. ya memang betul. Dari sisi kisah cintanya, ga ada yang istimewa. Malah berkesan agak seperti roman picisan .. hitam-putih, si kaya dan di miskin. Karakter utamanya tenggelam dan ga mampu bersaing dengan kemegahan setting serta kisah nyata Titanic itu sendiri. Yang outstanding hanya Rose Dawson (thanks to Kate Winslet, juga Gloria Stuart .. terbukti mereka meraih nominasi Oscar). Keberhasilan film ini di ajang Academy Awards juga karena aspek-aspek lain di luar akting. Mungkin ada juri yang kebawa sama sisi romantisme-nya .. ada juga yang kebawa sama sisi true story-nya .. atau ada yang menilai dari keseriusan dan kerja keras para pembuat film ini dalam menghidupkan Titanic dan tragedinya.

Gue sendiri, menilai keberhasilan Titanic untuk pribadi, karena gue merasa sangat terkesan begitu film selesai. Gue ga nangis seperti banyak penonton-penonton cewek lainnya, ga overwhelmed dengan ketampanan Leonardo DiCaprio seperti yang begitu digilai oleh para ABG (sampe gue baca ada yang mau boikot acara Academy Awards hanya karena Leo ga masuk nominasi) .. it's true that some things in this movie don't work very well for me. Tapi ada impact yang sulit dilukiskan begitu film berakhir. Gue langsung kepengen sharing film ini ke keluarga gue .. jadinya gue ajak semua anggota keluarga gue buat nonton rame-rame seminggu kemudian. They all love the movie. Gue sendiri merasa Titanic tetap fresh ditonton untuk yang kedua kalinya, dengan excitement yang sama sekali ga berkurang .. dan anehnya, gue merasa bangga banget sama film ini karena berhasil membuat keluarga gue terkesan (padahal bukan gue yang bikin film, bukan gue juga yang jadi aktrisnya .. hehe ..). Titanic ini langsung nempel dalam sekali nonton, dan kayaknya bakalan nempel till indefinite. Ada aja gitu yang keinget. Dari klip, dari sekelumit score .. Bahkan untuk adegan yang norak sekalipun, seperti .. you know, "I'm flying, Jack!" .. yang bikin gue mencibir ga keruan waktu pertama kali nonton .. tapi belakangan, waktu adegan ini sering diulang-ulang (bahkan sering diparodikan), berasa banget kalo adegan ini merupakan salah satu highlight of the movie yang sama sekali ga gampang dilupakan .. karena lagu "My Heart Will Go On" yang disenandungkan .. karena angle kameranya .. yang membawa penonton percaya apa yang dirasakan oleh Rose waktu itu. Juga teriakannya Jack yang terkenal itu .. siapa yang ga inget gambaran dia berdiri di buritan (atau haluan?) kapal, ngacungin tinjunya .. teriak-teriak .. ada lumba-lumba .. hehehe .. denger score-nya yang megah itu aja, kayaknya emang dia itu pantes merasa sebagai raja dunia yang berdiri di atas kapal termewah di jamannya. Atau senandung indah yang selalu membayangi dalamnya air laut yang dingin, really haunting yet so beautiful. Itu gue tuh. Kalo bokap .. bokap yang anxious banget ngasih tau gue soal kemenangan Titanic di Academy Awards 1998 ("Filmnya dapet 11 piala. Mecahin rekor. Hebat!") .. bokap yang sampe naik ke kamar gue nanya gue lagi nonton apa, padahal gue waktu itu cuma lagi masang soundtrack Titanic ("Kirain nonton film. Lagunya seperti di film.") .. dan bertahun sesudahnya, pernah "kecegat" sama video klip Celine Dion yang lagi nyanyi di atas kapal, bokap ngira Celine itu si Rose Dawson ("Ini film kapal tenggelam itu kan? Ini si cewek itu kan, kok bisa nyanyi?") .. =D =D =D. (I wonder what he would say should he saw this on TV).

Film ini udah menyatu banget dengan kisah kapal Titanic itu sendiri. Ada-tidaknya Leo di sini, ada-tidaknya kisah cinta dan dialog-dialog yang ga penting .. gue ga peduli lagi, karena sepertinya gue "dipaksa" untuk menilai film ini secara keseluruhan, dan melihat bahwa memang film ini dikemas untuk menarik perhatian penontonnya. Gue sama sekali ga heran Titanic menjadi salah satu film terlaris sepanjang masa. Film ini bergulir seperti dokumenter yang diperhalus dengan fiction drama, yang akhirnya bisa memperluas target penonton. Yang ga suka sama Leo dan drama cinta, bisa menikmati kapal tenggelam. Yang ga suka ngeliat kapal tenggelam, bisa menikmati Leo dan drama cinta. Yang ABG (anak baru gede) bisa ngeliat Leo dan Kate .. ini Leo pasti bersin-bersin namanya disebut-sebut terus di sini .. yang ABG (angkatan babe gue) bisa ngeliat Gloria dan Titanic. Yang ga suka sama semuanya, masih ada musik James Horner. Masih ga suka juga .. ya, terima nasib uang dan waktu terbuang percuma selama 3 jam (tapi pasti kagum juga kan sama kapalnya? Hayooo .. =p). Setidaknya Titanic berhasil menandai keberadaannya di dalam ingatan .. baik secara positif, maupun secara negatif .. sebagai film yang mendapatkan catatan tersendiri di buku perfilman Hollywood (dan dunia). That's so-called memorable .. and for some people, it's so-called great, because it lingers.

Old Rose: Fifteen-hundred people went into the sea, when Titanic sank from under us. There were twenty boats floating nearby... and only one came back. One. Six were saved from the water, myself included. Six... out of fifteen-hundred. Afterward, the seven-hundred people in the boats had nothing to do but wait... wait to die... wait to live... wait for an absolution... that would never come.

I am never fond of 3D movies. But for this, I will bear wearing those heavy goggles and paying surcharges.

Cinemagoers, Hear Hear!

WITTERTAINMENT'S CODE OF CONDUCT
Source: bbc.co.uk

And the rip-off ..

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR MOVIE AUDIENCES
Source: Rotten Tomatoes

1. Set thy phone ringer on silent mode.
The rest of us didn't pay to hear your ringtone, even if it's something cute. And God help you if you pick it up. If your call is that important (as in answering the phone will avert a nuclear disaster, alien invasion, or zombie outbreak) then you shouldn't be sitting in a movie theater to begin with.

2. Thou shalt not text.
If you're texting during the movie, you suck. You know that even a small light in a dark room is eye-catching, right? And if it's eye-catching, it's going to be distracting. If you're texting in the theater, you're either a moron or jerk, take your pick.

3. Thou shalt not speak.
Be quiet. As in keep your mouth shut. Even if you think you're being quiet enough that no one will hear you, you aren't. The only time it's acceptable to talk is if you're making jokes during a really bad movie. Check the Tomatometer ahead of time; if the score is below 10%, you can probably get away with making jokes for the rest of the audience's enjoyment (but they need to be funny).

4. Thou shalt not aim laser pointers at the movie screen.
Memo to junior high kids - using a laser pointer in the theater isn't actually amusing. I don't normally condone violence, but I propose a solution: the first person to find the little brat using a laser pointer gets to slap them in the mouth.

5. Thou shalt not kick or put thy feet on the seats in front of thee.
Especially if someone's in them. For that matter, share the armrest, and don't put your jacket down hoping that no one will sit next to you. If you need the extra space, sit next to the aisle.

6. Useth the restroom before the movie starts.
Why stumble over everyone going back and forth to your seat? If you're one of those people with a small bladder, then for God's sake, don't get a drink at the concession stand before the movie starts (trust me, I know people that do this). And if that's completely impossible for you, at least have the decency to sit in an aisle seat. (You get a pass for taking kids to family movies.)

7. Keepeth thy food quiet.
Don't slurp the end of the soda. Don't make a bunch of noise with candy wrappers. Better yet, don't have anything to eat during the movie. Imagine the money you'll save!

8. Thou shalt not bring thy children to R-rated movies.
Especially late ones. Especially horror movies. Believe me, your kids really don't want to see latest Terminator or Saw movie. I've seen parents bring kids to these kinds of movies, and it always makes me sad for the kids. If you can't find a sitter, too bad - join the world of decent parenting and wait for the movie to come out on DVD.

9. The movie theater is not thy make-out spot.
Do not kiss, fondle, grope, or have sex with your partner during the movie. Seriously, get a room. If you're attractive enough that others would want to watch you making out, chances are youd be on screen already, and not sitting in the theater with the rest of us.

10. Thou shalt not shoot video whilst in the theater.
This is called piracy, and regardless of what you think about theater owners and Hollywood in general, it's still stealing. There was a real commandment about that one.

Totally.

The Best Time of the Year

I love December. For so many reasons. These are just some of them.

Mat's birthday is one day after Santa Claus' arrival. So the routine of Christmas shopping always merges into birthday arrangements. It doubles the cost, but the most important thing, it triples the fun as well. Santa day, birthday, Christmas day. See?

It's a good time to clear up my leaves. Yeah. Nobody can work in this holiday mood anyway.

Though it doesn't get to snow around here, December is always a beautiful month in all terms. It certainly does feel like it when the Christmas tree is lit up and the Christmas decorations are hanging around and cheering up even the gloomiest spots. That put a smile on your face seeing those red, green and gold colors everywhere. (Or maybe it's just me).

A perfect excuse to set everything in Christmas themes. At home and in Litterzone.

As in summer, December is a good month for family movies. This year it got The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Tangled (a.k.a. Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale. It has a bunch of teasers that are hilarious. I'm lazy to put the links in here, so you go ahead browse them). And I'd like to recall: The Polar Express as the best 2D-feel-like-3D Christmas movie, Home Alone as simply the best Christmas movie ever with the best Christmas soundtracks and Miracle on 34th Street as the movie that set Sir Richard Attenborough as the real Santa Claus in my mind forever.

Christmas songs. Enough said. It's on the sidebar and in here. And the honorary awards go to (click on title to view video and place your pointer on it for lyrics):

"Somewhere in My Memory" ~ Home Alone introduces me to this song. I love it. Love love love it. The children choir brings a longing, indescribable sweetness. John Williams is truly the master composer, though some may say his works are sometimes repetitive. I love these two versions too: "Main Title" and "Finale".

"Carol of the Bells" ~ A traditional song I've heard it the first time from, again, Home Alone here. In a non-English-tongue country I live in, very rare I hear this sung in church. At its original tempo, it's a tongue-twister and a breath-taking song. Literally.

"Star of Bethlehem" ~ Have I told you that John Williams a genius? No? Well, listen closely to this song and "Setting the Trap", from Home Alone.

"O Holy Night" ~ Another traditional song, my all-time favorite, whoever sings this song. But Celine Dion got it through me most.

"The Sound of Life" ~ Exactly how it feels. Oh, and one night a couple of years back, I was alone in my house, accompanied by my twinkling little Christmas tree. I grabbed my Canon A80 and set it on tripod. There, the background pics on the video.

"When Christmas Comes to Town" ~ Always makes me cry. From the OST The Polar Express, here's the original scene.

"Believe" ~ This is all over The Polar Express. A beautiful score, beautiful lyrics, and gosh, Josh Groban.

"Holidays are Coming" ~ Despite of my addiction to Coca-Cola, this 2009 advertisement is definitely put the mood on a different level. The best Christmas ad to date. Wonderful! And yeap, holidays are coming indeed, and it's contagious.

The Social Network

Have you ever received this on your social networking sites?

"Mark Zuckerberg is hospitalised due to serious injuries. Chuck Norris poked him on Facebook."

I have. On my Twitter. I'd really like to share it on my Facebook. (Yea, I got both accounts).

And I forgot to share it until I saw The Social Network. Then I wish someone as tough as Chuck Norris could really gave him a good punch on the face, I mean, by not virtually. So he would end up not just being hospitalised, but also paralysed. Then Facebook would go off line, and we would have world peace because we spent time better in a quality life.

Where was I in 2005? Oh. Busy sending sms, blogging, writing to this group and enjoying my daily life without having to read some other people's narcissism-they-called-it-socializing. Now, at least once a day I open Facebook for: 1) To curse on things I don't get; 2) To share things THEY most likely don't get.

Make it 3) To give myself a cynical laugh at the stupidity, hypocrisy and all the idiotic things posted on it.

When you think someone would actually care when you had a successful poo-time.

Seriously, people?!

Zuckerberg has invented a really genius thing. Despite of how he'd done it by stealing and betraying (suspiciously). The movie told us about the process. What happened at first it was meant as a mockery, it expanded large enough to crash a university network, and then the whole world bow down to his success as the youngest billionaire. Turning someone who was just annoyingly (and really smart) nerd into someone who was frighteningly cold and ambitious. Mark Zuckerberg was not an asshole, so they said, but he was trying hard to be one. I wonder why his name always rings "Sucker-berg" all this time.

I'd never really feel like digging into the real Mark Zuckerberg's story. I just admire him in one way or another because he's in a generation who are simply relentless in information and technology. People like him, can (and will) make a better world for us to live in. They connect us easily. Here and there I read successful causes raise to help humanity. Family and friends found each other.

I still love Facebook. It is an effective media for advertising and self-promoting. Though sometimes it is totally unnecessary and overwhelming, thinking about those crap people, and I, threw onto the wall for all to read. Do we love being a narcissist? Absolutely.

But The Social Network teaches me about some cost people have to pay for an ambition. And the secret of the success, makes me wanna cease the social networking. A bit.

Whether or not it's a fictional, a movie, some dramatised plot based on a true story.

Chuck, go get him quick. Before Oscar visits the acting, writing and directing department. Before the sucker fixes his color blind and change Facebook into electric shocking pink.

Before my friends, who currently have more than 1,000 friends (and they're not even celebrities), can get to 500,000,000 friends and make some enemies.

Me, I will just simply remove my enemies from my friendlist.

And you bet I'm posting this on my social networking sites too.

-- as posted in CineFriends --

On Twitter:


Twitter linked to Facebook:


See the zero "Like" or "Comment" there? I share things they DON'T get. Exactly.

Dawai 2 Asmara

Sebelumnya, gue mau ngaku dulu. Kalo bukan dikasih kesempatan nonton premiere gratis bareng Delon, gue bakalan berpikir tujuh kali buat nonton Dawai 2 Asmara.

Karena:

1. Gue masih ragu sama kemampuan akting Delon, setelah pengalaman nonton film yang ini.

2. Gue bukan orang yang religius. Dan kerap sinis sama hal-hal yang berbau agama kolot dan menggurui. Mengingat ada nama Rhoma Irama bertebaran di film ini .. er. Yeah. That.

3. Gue sama sekali bukan penggemar the music of my country. (Sure, I love .. I mean, LOVE "Kopi Dangdut". But then I found out it's not original. No wonder it tasted different). Gue sempet liat TV spot-nya sehari sebelum acara nonton bareng. Di sana keliatan Ridho Irama sedang berjoget dangdutan. Uh-oh. What've I got myself into?

Right. Gue warganegara Indonesia yang durhaka, ga nasionalis, tukang kritik dan pintu neraka jelas dah terbuka lebar buat gue (biarpun amit-amit, gue tetep pengen masuk surga). Jadi kalo elo ga siap baca komentar gue di bawah ini .. better skip it and find something else to do .. let's say .. nonton ulang Dawai 2 Asmara sampe elo bisa ikutan joget ala Ridho atau sekalian bertransformasi jadi Satria Bergitar??

Masih tetep mau baca? You've been warned.

DAWAI 2 ASMARA

Premiere di Hollywood KC 21

7 September 2010

Dawai 2 Asmara mengangkat kisah cinta segitiga antara karakter Ridho Irama, Thufa (Cathy Sharon) dan Delon. Ridho diceritakan berpendidikan di luar negeri. Dan waktu pulang kembali ke negeri tercinta ini, dia didaulat sama ayahnya - Rhoma Irama, buat mengembangkan aliran musik dangdut berbalut modernisasi yang bisa sesuai dengan ciri khas anak muda. Di sini dia bertemu kembali dengan Thufa, teman masa lalunya. Yang kebetulan Thufa juga udah punya Delon sebagai pacarnya. Jadi .. jinak-jinak merpati, acuh-acuh butuh, malu-malu mau .. you name it, you got it. Ditambah kehadiran Haura (Emily Graham), seorang bule dari Australia yang simpatisan musik dangdut yang juga tertarik sama Ridho. Dan seorang sopir taksi yang mencerminkan Fans Nomor Satu yang psikopat. Ditambah dengan persaingan antar genre musik pop dan dangdut, ajaran pencak silat, kuliahan agama, penculikan dan pembunuhan .. dan lagu-lagu dangdut lagi .. dan joget-joget juga dong. Lengkap. Komplit.

Pertama yang gue perhatiin, Cathy Sharon sebagai tokoh sentral di tengah dua asmara seperti pada judulnya, sama sekali ga adil namanya ditulis di bawah nama Rhoma Irama dan Ridho Irama. Boleh coba dihitung jumlah scene-nya dibanding Rhoma Irama. Kalo mau Rhoma Irama dikedepankan because he got the top-billed or he's the executive producer, fine. Pasang ketiganya sejajar. And you would think ada kisah cinta antara Rhoma, Cathy dan Ridho. Shit. That would be very creepy.

I like Cathy. She's sweet. Her acting is surprisingly decent and she's expressive. Interaksinya dengan Ridho lumayan menarik, terlepas dari keharusan dia ikut menari di tengah jalan. Ridho also took me off-guard, in some degrees. He's so .. westernized. Dari bahasa gado-gadonya, sampe brewoknya yang bervariasi mulai dari level tipis sampe level lebat (rasanya pengen gue cukur karena ga cocok sama baby face-nya). Ada kontradiksi yang muncul dalam karakter Ridho. Penampilan kasar, tapi suaranya halus banget. Bicara sama nyanyinya pun keliatan cuma keluar dari bibir yang tertutup. Manner-nya kadang cool, kadang malah cengeng. I couldn't read him, I hate it. Ini maunya gimana sih?

Gue punya satu kata buat menggambarkan karakter Delon di sini. "Bebal". Ga ada malunya. Seriously. Gue ga ngerti kenapa Thufa bisa menjadikan Delon sebagai pilihannya bersama Ridho. Delon itu terlalu berlebihan and very comical. Apa sih yang diliat oleh Thufa dari diri Delon? Kalo gue jadi Thufa, gue ga bakalan ragu milih Ridho dari awal dia muncul, biarpun kadang Ridho pun super menyebalkan dan belagu. Ga usah pake nangis-nangis, ga usah pake berantem. Kalo mau digambarkan Delon itu baiiiiik sekali .. seperti yang diagungkan oleh Thufa di depan Ridho .. where? I didn't see that. Apa karena Delon ngasih hadiah mulu? Itu sogokan, d'oh. Masa ga tau?? Yang parah, ga ada chemistry di antara Delon dan Cathy Sharon. Gue ga bisa liat seberapa sayangnya Delon ke ceweknya itu, selain yang keluar di mulut serupa rayuan gombal. Kalo memang tujuannya Delon itu buat dijadikan saingan Ridho, please deh, jadikan dia karakter yang sedikitnya punya ketulusan.

Waktu ketiganya berkonfrontasi di tengah hujan lebat, nah seharusnya seru nih. But something was wrong. Emosinya ga nyampe. Adegan ini berpanjang-panjang, dengan lines yang seharusnya bisa dibuat meledak-ledak. Tapi gue seperti menonton adegan bisu yang diisi oleh dubber-dubber amatir. Apa yang diucapkan ga sesuai dengan ekspresi yang ditampilkan. Gaaaaaaaah .. gue frustrasiiiii .. ampuuuuun .. gregetan sampe tinju gue sempet melayang ke depan (ga nyampe deng, layarnya jaoooohhh. masih untung kaki ga ikutan melayang, penonton di depan gue bisa ketendang). This scene had SO much potential. So much. Dan dibuang-buang gitu aja.

Padahal adegan yang dibangun tepat sebelumnya, gue dah suka banget. Keliatan dilema Thufa yang harus memilih antara Ridho dan Delon, pas di pesta ulangtahunnya. Dimana masing-masing cowok menyatakan cinta dengan lagu (note: lagu "Kucinta Kau" betul-betul sederhana dan bagus. Suara Delon bagaikan angin segar di tengah terjangan badai dangdut. Bzzzt!). Sewaktu Thufa memandang Ridho yang lagi nyanyi, dengan Delon yang memperhatikan diam-diam di belakangnya .. really. When I watch a movie, this kind of thing always attract me more. I like to observe facial expressions, especially when the actors do it in silence. Despite all the weaknesses, I love this scene. I do. For me, this is where I believe that Cathy, Ridho and Delon, in fact, have a capability of a good actor if only they fall in the good hands. Di titik ini gue kembali diyakinkan, bahwa seberapa besar kemampuan seorang aktor dalam mengeksplorasi karakternya, pengarahan dari sutradaralah yang juga menentukan apakah karakter ini akan berhasil atau gagal.

Which brought me back to the rain scene, two paragraphs above. I'm holding a grudge over here. STUPID DIRECTING!!! BLAAAAGGGHHH!!!

Gue dengan senang hati akan melupakan karakter Haura dan si sopir taksi. Clearly, mereka cuma tempelan doang buat nambah suspense dan kelengkapan cerita ala Bollywood. Ga penting banget. Malah mengurangi fokus penonton terhadap kisah Ridho-Thufa-Delon. Apalagi adegan berantem Ridho dan si sopir taksi bisa pindah ke atas bukit dengan landscape yang lumayan berwarna. Gee!! Adu jotos in style. And I have no remorse of saying this: karakter sopir taksi di sini hanyalah alat untuk mendewakan Rhoma Irama. No bad intention, but I won't take it back. IMHO, seberapa pun salehnya seseorang, hanya di dalam film ada karakter yang bisa dengan tenang menghadapi acungan senjata di hadapannya dan bahkan mempersilakan dirinya untuk ditembak. Dan cuma di dalam film, ada karakter yang bisa memaafkan seorang asing yang sudah menembak anak satu-satunya. Where's justice in all of this?? (Charles Bronson yang berani melawan musuh bersenjata pun paling tidak masih bisa punya dendam, and for sure he didn't recite any prayers whatsoever. And that's in Hollywood, not here).

STUPID WRITING!!! BAH!!!

Am I in hell already?

Having said that, I'm gonna submit my redemption now. I appreciate the music. I'm not a fan, but I do know kalo musik yang dibawakan Soneta Band (dan dari sini gue tau ada Sonet 2 Band) bukanlah dangdut biasa. Paling nggak, musiknya ga mendayu-dayu dan ga melankolis. Juga banyak yang sarat petuah. Walaupun ada beberapa track yang mengambil terlalu banyak waktu, bahkan jadi berasa kurang menyatu sama adegan-adegan pendukungnya (someone has gotta learn to be humble enough to trim those tracks in the movie and put the full version only in the soundtrack CD instead). Ada beberapa saat gue merasa diforsir ngedengernya, but hey, I survived, didn't I? But mostly I could take it, I surprised myself. Ada juga yang layak banget buat disimak, terutama track milik Ridho di end credit, "Let's Have Fun Together". It's exceptional. Very typical all-cast dancing, yet it still entertains. I would say it's also an eye-opening to see Rhoma Irama lowering down his ego and could ACTUALLY melt and join into the fun.

And I'd very much love to mention the most brilliant scene in Dawai 2 Asmara. Di dalam restoran, Ridho "mengajari" teman-temannya buat menahan lapar dengan berpuasa dan membukanya dengan doa terlebih dahulu. Hilarious! Fresh! Totally smooth. Only by this, the stupid directors and the stupid writer have redeemed themselves by 50%. See, I'm THAT generous. You go see the movie and learn how to dance. Ridho-style.


-- as posted in CineFriends --

p.s.: Special thanks to Vena and DC

Bubble Boy: The Innocent Kiss that Made Me Fall

As I mentioned in here, this is the very scene that made me fall for Jake Gyllenhaal at the first place.

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WARNING:
Major spoiler!! Basically it's everything about Bubble Boy. You watch this and you may not need to watch the rest of the movie. Play at your own risk.

"I'd rather spend one minute holding you than the rest of my life knowing I never could. "

Bubble Boy (2001)

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See .. I've told you it's MAJOR. Couldn't help it, could you? ^_^

Breaking News:

When I was re-watching the video with Mat last night, at one point he stared at the monitor .. looking at Jake's face closely. And seconds after, probably he'd already had this thought for quite sometime since the movie started, he blurted out, "Mom, why does he look like Prince Dastan?" (ed: free translation of "Ma, kok kayak Prince Dastan?).

Where did he get the idea from?

Holy cow, it's a 9-year gap! Either my little son is a really good observer, or I must have taught him right on being a good fans.

p.s. And now Mat is happy calling him "Jake Dastan".

Some People are Just Too Dumb

Let's talk about rating and parenting. Movie related.

As you may or may not know, that there is a film-rating system that can give you a lead of what is suitable or not suitable for viewings in regards to age of moviegoers. For every movie that is rated, it's always written in certain logo or symbol that can be easily found on posters, trailers or even before the movie's started.

This is the Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system for dummies:

Bet you saw that before. Whether or not you understand the meaning, it's oftenly neglected by you nonetheless. Did you think it's for decoration only?? You still take your children to cinema watching an R-rated movie. Or your baby - that's right, your baby - watching a PG-13 movie. You will say that you love movies so much, that you're not willing to put it a rest just because you can't leave your children at home. You will say that you love your children so dearly, that you'd like to take them anywhere with you including to see a violent movie. In some extreme cases, you send the under-age to cinema without guardian, so that you can have your shopping-spree undisturbed for two hours. Can't you send them to the playground instead??? You won't know what your children are doing inside the studio. Throwing popcorn-fights, kicking the back of people's seats, laughing hard, screaming and running up-and-down the aisle, completely an annoyance to the rest of the audience. Oh, and what movie they're watching, say again? You won't remember the title, let alone knowing the rating.

Later if you found that your children had something inside their closets, or if they inhabitted some kind of an attitude imitating whoever or whatever they got from the movies, who would you blame?? Sure, the theater management can implement age-restriction, the personnels can always check some IDs or simply observe the size of mini-audience that go into the studio. Sure, you can always blame the movie importers or producers for releasing such negative movies. But don't count on it. You think those people will listen to your stupid complaints?? Think again!! It's YOU who don't follow the ratings. It's YOU who're taking the children to the cinema. It's YOU who're buying the tickets. YOU are the one who responsible for your own children!! Yeah, it all solely lies on YOU, the parents!!

You do know that there's always a way to enjoy movies. Sneak out of your children's nap time. Leave them with their grannies. Take turn with your spouse if you don't mind going to the cinema alone. As the last resort, you can always buy or rent videos and watch it after your children are secured in their bedroom at night.

If you still don't give a damn, well, there is one more rating-system that will apply perfectly on you.

mo·ron
Function: noun
a person affected with mild mental retardation
a very stupid person

im·be·cile
Function: noun
a person affected with moderate mental retardation
fool, idiot

id·i·ot
Function: noun
a person affected with extreme mental retardation
a foolish or stupid person

Choose one and congratulations, you're eligible for a free spanking as well. Now go to your room, you're grounded, you dumb-stupid-fool!!

-- as posted in CineFriends --

When There Ain't Never Enough Jake

I caught this paragraph from here:

Jake Gyllenhaal's brain-liquifying levels of dreaminess have made him a universal object of desire, with every surfacing photograph of him and companion used as definitive evidence in the ongoing "He's on our team!" tug-of-war. (Even the canine community claimed him when he was snapped canoodling with an underage puggle.)

How can I not agree?

When I find one sidepage is not enough for Jake. And I don't want to open another blog just because there're already some people doing amazing job in stalking him (find a few of them here and here, from where I got this very nice article).

So I'm just gonna summarize my state on this page only.

I've seen thirteen of his movies and wrote three long posts to comment on each. (Click on pics to read comments. Watch out for spoilers!)

These following pics painted the sweetest moment in Proof. Can I take Gwyneth's place? Let me just drooling over this trailer at 1:33.

And dreaming to replace Heath Ledger on Jake's best movie to date, Brokeback Mountain. I even named my pet-fish Ennis and Jack.

Click here to see my favourite scene (WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER!!).

Ennis Del Mar: I'm gonna tell you this one time, Jack fuckin' Twist, an' I ain't foolin'. What I don't know - all them things that I don't know - could get you killed if I come to know them. I ain't jokin'.
Jack Twist: Yeah well try this one, and I'll say it just once!
Ennis Del Mar: Go ahead!
Jack Twist: Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together! Fuckin' real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Ennis! So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything's built on that! That's all we got, boy, fuckin' all. So I hope you know that, even if you don't never know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly twenty years and you measure the short fucking leash you keep me on - and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needing somethin' I don't hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I'm not you... I can't make it on a coupla high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you sonofawhoreson bitch! I wish I knew how to quit you.
Ennis Del Mar: [crying] Well, why don't you? Why don't you just let me be? It's because of you Jack, that I'm like this! I'm nothin'... I'm nowhere... Get the fuck off me! I can't stand being like this no more, Jack.

From some sources I've also learned that Jake has the deepest regret for losing the audition for Christian in Moulin Rouge!. He was down to three with Ewan McGregor and Heath Ledger. Now. As much as I love Ewan as Christian, it's my regret for not be able to see Jake singing and dancing in the best musical movie ever. Just a thought of him doing this piece, way beyond my imagination. I could never look at Christian the same way again.

Talking about Jake's interviews, I find most are very entertaining. I'm pretty sure it's mainly because of his sense of humor, wacky interviewers and smart publicist. Rarely any boring ones. Even in the most serious interview, I still can find him very charming and polite. Playlisted a collection around here, alongside some movie clips and trailers. Look out for the one with Jonathan Ross (Part 1 and Part 2), George Stroumboulopoulos and the Q&A Session of Wondercon 2010 (Jake Gyllenhaal, is human after all. He could get embarassed. Fans: "You're pretty, I just thought you should know it". Jake: "If you weren't silhouetted, I'd be able to say the same thing". Awwww!). View Wondercon 2010: Disney's Prince of Persia Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

To wrap it up for now, this Gyllenhaalic post won't be completed without a Vanity Fair Photoshot and a slideshow of 100 chosen pics (from here and other sources).

William James said "The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." ..

.. I'm too stressed out. So I choose to think of Jake Gyllenhaal over everything.

Revisiting Jake Gyllenhaal .. and Yeah, He's Still Alive and Kicking

.. to answer my own question written near the end of this post ..

No, I DID NOT mind watching movie about gay people. Even when they stereotyped Brokeback Mountain as "a gay cowboy movie" and homophobes banned it anywhere, anytime they could .. I remained to what I've always believed that sometimes you cannot choose the one you love. It just happened. Be it male on male. What put it into delay was because it's got tremendous hypes, so massive that it successfully let me down before I saw it. Spoilers, parodies, movie clips, that 30-second bunnies (which was really hilarious, by the way, especially when the sheep and the elk kissed at the end). Felt like I'd been hit by Brokeback Mountain debris everywhere I turned. To add salt into injury, it was directed by Ang Lee, who is a very good director with his style, but the name always pronounces "Slow Movies" to my ears. Then 4 years later, should I start to give it a chance? For you, Jake, I'd ride the horse and climb the mountain. And I say. Though I had to endure the silence at the beginning of the movie (God, Ang Lee, when would you ask the actors to start talking already?), I'm happy I stayed since it ended up being absolutely .. beautiful. It deserved every Oscar it won (directing, writing and music), and for many other awards nominations it received. Totally deserved my victory dance. Stunning cinematography, subtle score .. and what lead the movie to be what it is, was a masterpiece of art from the director. I think only Ang Lee who has a capability to turn something this provocative into a touching love story. Then I had to put the rest to those wonderful actors, who made everything so believable, so delicate it left no space for sarcasm and disgust. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, not a single moment I had in my mind that they're less of men themselves. Their courage to take these rewarding roles and how they took all the prejudice thrown at them, it's like the most professional dedication they could give to their acting career and to the movie industry. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are indeed their roles of a lifetime. Sure there's a particular scene that really got my head spinning pretty badly (jeez, and I thought I was well-prepared), but I love all scenes that involved these two fine men. There are many obvious tenderness and purity reflected in it. I, am specifically drawn to Jack Twist. I understand how difficult the situation for Ennis, but come on, how could he reject those dreamy eyes? (Later I found this amusing comment: "Jake Gyllenhaal must be part puppy with those eyes". Made me kinda wonder it's indeed true, might need to check his birth certificate). And the monologue Jack gave to Ennis on their last fishing trip, where you got the famous "I wish I knew how to quit you" quote, so bitter it broke my heart. Jake Gyllenhaal is great, without any less respect to Heath Ledger's accomplishment, I wonder why he'd been categorized in a supporting role instead of leading role. And how Alma Del Mar, played by Michelle Williams at her best, could call him "Jack Nasty" .. and some closeted minds targeting this movie as a humiliation to Lee, Heath, Jake and all cowboys in the world .. those things, see, I'm still digesting.

Let me move on to Jarhead. After being gay cowboy, now Jake Gyllenhaal is a marine during the Gulf War. War movies' never been my preference. But just because it has Jake in it .. and his brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard, who happened to be one of my fave too .. so yeah I gave it a shot. Turned out it's quite good, especially the first half of the movie where there were the most of low-key humor that made me grinning. Jake's acting wise, I personally believe it's on par to what he's done in Brokeback Mountain. Only this time, nobody would question his sexual orientation. He portrayed a real person name Anthony Swofford, who's trained to be a sniper but never had a chance to fire his rifle. One best scene happened after Swofford's been punished for neglecting his watch-duty in Christmas Eve, when he threatened his buddy with a loaded rifle .. emotional words flew as fast as bullets fired .. my heart skipped a couple of beats there, almost couldn't stand the tension. Definitely it's a g-u-y movie, pardon my pun.

Then I re-watched Proof. When I saw it in cinema a few years back, I could only give short comments posted in other mailist: "Adu debat dan aktingnya melawan Gwyneth Paltrow terbukti mampu membuat gue tetap alert waktu nonton film yang penuh dialog panjang-panjang ini". When I thought this movie was difficult because of the math logic and sanity premise, when I thought Gwyneth and Anthony Hopkins delivered all their lines in full gear and deafening volume, when I thought how could Jake Gyllenhaal looked so different than he was in his previous movies. That was then. Now after I've seen Brokeback Mountain and Jarhead, put Proof in between, I finally can make a connection. Three good movies in the same year. He's matured and he picked the right point to start from. My opinion on Proof after the 2nd session, is that this movie has a simple storyline, dialogues are heavy and strong, acting .. is definitely a blast. Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis .. all four of them! Though I still can't understand about 30% of the math logic, with these actors involved, I will go ahead pretending I am smart. I've watched it three times now and it just keeps getting better, more entertaining (and the 30% been reduced to 20%). The star of the movie is Gwyneth, no doubt about it. She carried her character, named Catherine, fluidly into the world between insanity and sanity. Hard to tell. But what I like most, is Hal. He's like the sun that brought light into Catherine's life. He's the one that could improve her mood and made her laugh. I repeated the very one scene of Catherine and Hal sitting at the terrace (see picture here), and then they kissed (see picture here) .. gah .. that was the sweetest moment ever. Jake as Hal, is just too adorable. Never get bored of the scene, never get enough of Hal.

I will only give short comments on the following movie: Zodiac. Despite of the stellar casts involved in this movie, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chloe Sevigny .. with David Fincher directed them .. this certainly not my kind of movie. It tells story of the unsolved case of Zodiac Killer. I couldn't take the brutal murder scenes, ooooh the horror. I felt like being trapped in a dark room without any sign of hope for almost three hours. Not even the lightest character, Robert Graysmith, could help. Well, yeah maybe he could. But that doesn't change me to like this movie. I could say that based on Jake's performance only, he's a little bit awkward with not enough screen presence at the first half of the movie. But at the second half when his character grew and stepped up to the lead, now that is when I feel the movie's very lucky to have Jake Gyllenhaal in it.

Rendition. I caught it on HBO. Seeing Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal .. who could resist? Perhaps I should have known better. I don't mind the story about prejudice that once again put someone who's innocent into deep trouble just because of his race, nationality or religion. But I do mind its parallel story, that made me believe I could finally learn why young terrorists could conduct suicide bombings. Jeez. Rendition touched a very dangerous subject, and it's too cruel. I don't like it at all. Well, at least I could enjoy Peter Sarsgaard performance .. and Jake who appeared so damn serious as CIA analyst Douglas Freeman. I'm glad he got this sympathetic role, the only character in this movie that had guts to take risks. Other than that, it's so-so.

And that's all for now.

I'm delighted to change my favourite list of Jake's movie character. It's now is .. Harold Dobbs (Hal), of course. Homer Hickam comes 2nd. Jack Twist comes 3rd. As for his movie, Brokeback Mountain is the best so far. And for Jake Gyllenhaal himself, I love his eyes the most. Then his acting. Then his smile. Then his laughs. Then the way he kissed that girl in Bubble Boy, Emmy Rossum, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, Gemma Arterton and Heath Ledger. I just wish it was me he kissed.

Twilight Saga: My Theories

I have some theories about Twilight Saga:

1. RPattz and Taylor, these hunks are gorgeous. Eventhough they cannot act, they're the ones that brought the characters to live. Like it or not, girls are holding to their existence so they could see Edward Cullen and Jacob Black in tangible way. (It's blurred when they say Team Edward and Team Jacob, do they mean Team Robert Pattinson and Team Taylor Lautner??). Be jealous, guys .. be very jealous. Cause you've got serious competition since girls tend to forget everything when they cross path with these two -everything including losing their mind, ignoring their boyfriends or husbands, calling Kristen a bitch just because Bella didn't want to choose (who can, anyway?). More likely it will lead into endless cynicism from the losers. I do believe some ego were bruised pretty bad. You can ban vampires and werewolves from your life, but do not forget, they're immortal. And so are the Twihards. Be reminded that this is imagination without limit. Better not putting yourself into misery of not knowing the reason why the saga roars.

2. The books are marketed for young adults, a.k.a. teenagers. Outside the target (read: adult men or women, critics, or some of the unusual teens, who claim to always have their feet on earth consciously) .. is accepted, but not expected. Teenagers love sweet romance and handsome characters. Their behaviours are notoriously extreme to whatever they believe in, for all the things they can dream about. Stephenie Meyer wrote the books based on her dream, you go figure. Instead of creating dark coffins and bloody fangs, she created sparkling vampires and the gentlest of werewolves. And a triangle love story between the mythical creatures and a human girl .. damn, she fools us all. No wonder the books irritate many people. It's all so perfect, it's impossible.

3. It's very tricky for the movies to live up to the books. But for the fans, it's irresistible nonetheless. They're willing to forgive any shortcomings because they just love it as it is. When the movies turned out bad in the eye of critics, who the hell care?? Even the critics who gave bad ratings - fans or non fans - watched the movies too, didn't they? For those who don't understand this, let me put it this way: Watch & Comment. (Not the other way around, or do the ugly Comment & No Watch At All). Do not say that the directors, actors and everyone involved in the production had no burdens in making the movies as best as they could, to materialize thousand dreams. Probably some of you have already read this.

So my point is:

I could only write down three points.

.. And in case anybody gets a little curious .. I am 30% Team Edward Cullen, 30% Team Jacob Black and 40% Team Bella Swan.