My Current Jam

Unlike younger generation who usually manage their playlist on apps like “joox”, I still go with conventional offline way, adding new songs and deleting old ones manually from my phone. I usually mark some songs as favorite and only listen to those selected few in repeat when I’m in the mood. In this post, I want to share about some of my current favorite songs, and why I like them.

1. “11 Gatsu no Anklet” (November’s Anklet) – AKB48

Eversince Mayuyu announced her graduation, I’ve been waiting for her center song and hoping wholeheartedly that it will be a song that I can love. AKB singles I particularly like are usually election singles, like “Flying Get”, “Gingham Check” , and “Koisuru Fortune Cookie”.

I moderately liked newest election single #Sukinanda, but all singles released during 2016 until then were disappointments to me. I just can’t get into “Shoot Sign”, and what is even “High Tension”? I was ready to be resigned that AKB won’t release cheery, dreamy, idolish type of song that I like ever again, but I got a strong hope for Mayuyu graduation single.

And then a live performance of “11 Gatsu no Anklet” is published on youtube, and it was everything I could hope for!

The melody is nice, a bit Christmas-esque with the bells and perfectly suits the festive mood. The lyrics is about letting go of a loved one, with feeling of regret, but you won’t know that from the melody alone, since it sounds very much like a happy song. In that aspect it is similar to “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, where the music is holiday-season-appropriate but the lyrics is about missing someone.

I like the golden-ish festive costume, of which someone in fan forum said “Marie Antoinette style”. And I especially like the dance with the creative formations. At the chorus, the members line up to form a hallway through which Mayuyu walks, while they sort of taking a peek and making cute poses before she pass. Little shrugs, simple sway and coordinated steps from part to part make the routine overall very cute and suits the song’s atmosphere perfectly.

I was hoping that I would be able to see the dance routine more clearly in the PV, and was initially disappointed when the PV didn’t show anything like that. But now I’ve grown to like it, because as weird as it is, you do get to see something different from live performance. But I still think the first scene where several Mayuyu appeared bear an uncanny resemblance to a scene from horror movie “The Grudge” XD.

2. “Hono to Mori no Carnival” – Sekai no Owari

So yeah, my current jam is not always a newly released song. This song was released in 2014. I just found it now, along with the artist who sing them, “Sekai no Owari”, but better late than never, right?

At first, I was attracted to this song because the melody is catchy, but as per usual, I love it even more after I’m able to discern the lyrics.

It was about a guy who take the girl he likes to a carnival inside an amusement park, where a wizard told him to keep his love a secret. It is very fairy tale-ish, but at the same time not, because when we’re in love everything becomes a little bit rose-tinted. So everything could be just the guy’s imagination because he was afraid to tell the girl how he truly feels about her.

It ends very romantically because instead of saying anything, the guy just kissed the girl and held her hand tightly, intending to never let go.

Love,love,love that part!

Other “Sekai no Owari” songs I also enjoy are “Snow Magic Fantasy” and “RPG” . The group apparently hasn’t released that many singles, and nothing since 2015 until now. I hope they will release something new in near future and I’ll certainly check it out!

3. “Gomennasai no Kissing You” – E-girls

Talk about finding out something late, I am really late in finding “E-girls” charm. I knew that they are sort of sister group to “Exile”, but that was it.

More recently, I found their version of “Odoru Ponpokorin”, which is a nostalgic song for me because I couldn’t count how many times I danced bon odori to it in Japan culture festival. Bon odori time is always my favorite part of any Japan festivals.

E-girls’ version is more modern, just as energetic but with a splash of youthful cheeriness. Since I like their “Odoru Pon” so much, I decided to check their other singles and got really hooked to their break out 2013 single, “Gomennasai no Kissing You”.

And wow! I’ve noticed that their dance is realy sharp before, but “Gomennasai” opened my eyes that these girls can REALLY dance.

Their movements are just reeeea-ly powerful and precise, their routine is complicated but they make it looks so easy.

I learned that E-girls consist of “singers” and “dancers”. The dancers basically just dance the whole time, while the singers dance less or minimally when it’s time for them to sing.

But even so, it amazes me so much how steady the singers’ voice are even in live performance. This is not to say that the dancers are less amazing, because singers and dancers both make up E-girls’ brilliant performance.

Other E-girls’ songs I enjoy are the above “Follow Me” and “Diamond Only”, my typical inspiring, motivational songs. Unfortunately, the girls have changed their music direction since, and two of three main vocalists in “Gomennasai” have even graduated to focus on solo /other activity.

4. “One More Thing” – Tohoshinki

I became a Tohoshinki fan from their more upbeat release, “Maximum”. But they also have some gems among their slower songs. For example, “One More Thing”, which is also a soundtrack for a Japanese drama starring Sawajiri Erika, “L et M”.

I don’t know what makes me especially like “One More Thing”, maybe purely because of the melody and the great instrumental work. The lyrics itself is a classically cheesy love song. I don’t dislike it, but I can’t say I appreciate it greatly either.

Funnily enough, for someone who generally do NOT like sad songs, I also like the A-side of “One More Thing”; “Still”, which is a song about lovers separation. If I’m feeling melancholic, I’d listen to “Still”. But I guess I’m lucky that I can listen to “Still” without feeling too affected, since I never experienced a romantic heartbreak in similar fashion.

Tohoshinki will release a new single “Reboot” on 20 December, and I’m still on the fence about it.

Hopefully the song will grow on me later, just like “Catch Me”, which was meh at first but then became one of longest staples on my playlist.

5. “Remember Me” – Miguel feat Natalia Lafourcade

But Flo, you just said you DON’T like sad songs, you might say.

That’s right, I don’t. I really don’t. But this song left quite an impression on me.

So I watched Disney-Pixar newest movie “Coco”, and the reviews actually already give some warnings that it is a sad movie. Just as I don’t like to listen to sad songs, I also refuse to watch sad movies or movies with dark themes, such as war, and to some extend, horror movies. That is because I want movies to only be my happy place.

If the movies are dark themed, they have to be set in fantasy world, far removed away from reality for me to be able to stomach it. Since “Coco” is an animation, I thought I would be just fine.

Turned out, I wasn’t fine at all.

In the movie, Mama Coco is senile and she can’t even recognize her own family, including her daughter Mama Elena. She asked “who are you?” when Mama Elena took care of her. But Mama Elena took no mind of it, probably because she’s just used to that condition.

But in the end, Miguel singing “Remember Me” to her made her gained mind clarity for a while, and when she looked Mama Elena, she called her possibly because she looked so sad, “Elena, what’s wrong chica?” (or at least that’s what I could catch).

And I remember, remember, remember, when my mum’s cancer already spread to her brain and she couldn’t recognize me sometimes. I would wipe her face or change her clothes, crying silently and think about all the things I wish I’d done sooner.

I wish I took better care of her when she was healthy. I wish I wasn’t so focused on my study, or my self. Because screw good grades. I wish I helped her more often with house chores, and listen to her more.

And one time the fog on her head seemed to clear for a bit, and she looked at me, and she said exactly those words. “What’s wrong, baby? Why are you crying? Don’t cry.”

After she’s gone, I always tell my self she’s now in the better place, far happier than I could ever make her. But now and then, I would remember that time in the hospital and that always brings me immeasurable sadness.

So I cried my eyes out, shaking silently in my seat for last 30 minutes, thinking “Damnit, I didn’t sign up for this!”

My sister said I look so weird in the picture we took after the movie finished.
I want to tell her that, my face looked weird because I just drained at least a year worth of tears and snots.

For comparison, this pic is taken before we watch the movie. I looked happy wahaha. Little did I know that soon be changed in just few hours.

For “Coco” the movie as a whole, I suppose the plot has been built up from the very beginning, but it took long enough for the twist to be unveiled. Whether the story progressed interestingly enough to hold your attention until then, I guess that depends on individual taste. Admittedly, I have such a high expectation for this movie, though it was kind of unfair because the expectation comes from “Book of Life”, which turned out to have no relation whatsoever to “Coco”.

And this might not stand out because this is an animation movie, but isn’t the villain is one of the worst kind? He wasn’t only like cheater or thief because a circumstance, but he did what he did very deliberately, and even appeared to have no hesitation in repeating the deed, to an underage child to boot.

“Coco” score: 7 out of 10.

So, that was it for this week.

I hope you enjoy this post. Is there any songs that catch your attention? How often do you change your playlist? Do you have any song/movie recommendation? Tell me all about it!

See you soon!

[Review] “Paddington 2”

Watching “Paddington 2” reminds me a lot to “Book of Life” experience. Not the story line, but the warm feeling I got afterwards. The pleasant surprise from almost no expectation at first, to genuinely charmed and delighted multiple times throughout the viewing, to the deep breath of relish and beam I must had in my face at the very end.

Here is my take about what makes “Paddington 2” a splendid picture.

P for “Presenting a Good Story”

Probably the most crucial element, this is ultimately what we long for when we go to watch a movie. Paddington and The Brown Family are pursuing a thief who stole a pop up book the bear wants for his aunt’s birthday. But wait—it is not simply a story about hunting down a thief–the pop up book turns out to be a a treasure map with coded clues.

The clues in the map are revealed delightfully in the villain’s own hilarious adventure, while The Browns are trying to trace him down. At the same time, Paddington struggles to stay brave in prison. All of these without missing a beat or seems jarring in one cohesive, entertaining story.

A for “Adorning All Characters in a Wholesome Way”

I’m not even talking about The Browns or Paddington’s prison mates, for their stories are also substantial parts of this movie, but about how a love story in Windsor Gardens could bloom between Colonel Lancaster and Miss Kitts, the Newsagent Lady, from an act as simple as Paddington becomes a window cleaner.

That is a thread cleverly woven, among many. Just how the creator managed to add in so many cuts, but make them add the shines to this gem instead of messing it up? Truly, hats off for that.

D for “Delivering the Funny Pawfectly”

“Paddington 2” has plenty of funny moments, appealing both to children and adults alike. My favorite funny scene is when Knuckles bossed Paddington around to make marmalade for the first time. I whispered to my sister that Knuckles is abusive to Paddington just like she is to me (which sister didn’t find amusing at all—but she always has a warped sense of humor). When Knuckles told Paddinton to carry the oranges “one by one”, which he did literally, I just cracked like a mad witch. It’s so simple, yet it lightens your heart along with the soaring of Paddington’s spirit after the gloom situation he faced in the prison.

D for “Delighting Your Eyes”

It’s a colorful London, a dream city I always envision in my mind when I think about my favorite children books.

“Paddington” makes some smooth transition between full animation in pop up book scene to live action with lovely townscape for the rest of the story.

Some of the breath taking pictures include the night city view from the air balloon used by Paddington and his mates when escaping the prison, but even everyday life scene looks like they really jump alive from children story book pages they originally were.

I for “Introducing London’s Beautiful Landmarks”

The pop up book as a treasure map leads us to some of the most famous London’s landmarks, such as St. Paul Cathedral or London Tower Bridge.

Previously, I always romanticized Paris more, but after “Paddington 2”, London seriously climbed higher on my “want to visit” list.

N for “Nailing Down the Details”

Small details like Mr. Brown used to be “Bull’s Eye Brown” is brought back at the end to be an important point.

This scene of Mr. Brown performing a split between two steam trains is perfectly funny on its own, but it’s made even more heartfelt with the backstory about his middle age crisis and him joining a yoga class as an attempt to cope with it.

G for “Girlpower!”

Mrs. Brown is the one who led the investigation and eventually figured out who was the real villain.

In the movie, she’s an adventure story writer who longs for an adventure in her real life, and really goes for it.

Wow, she’s a lady after my own dream!

T for “True to Originals”

The creator managed to give marmalade, Paddington’s notable favorite jam from the original story, a prominent role on this movie. Marmalade is one of what makes Paddington, Paddington; so a million kudos for that.

O for “Offering the Moral in a Fun Way”

Nobody like to be taught morals in patronizing way. Paddington repeats Aunt Lucy’s message all the time for himself: “If you’re kind and polite, everything will come right”, and the audience watches with him that his world always indeed turned alright. I love the optimism and inspiration it entails, effortlessly without seeming to mean to.

N for “Need I say more?” XD

I tried several angles in penning out a review for “Paddington 2”, because I like it so much.

But then I found a perfect review in Empire Online, which I think capture all essences of why “Paddington 2” is so universally heartwarming.

This is the part that really hits home:

“The world of Paddington is much as we left it. It’s London, but a version far removed from reality, where even newsagents live in multimillion-pound Georgian villas — as fantastical a notion as a talking bear. It’s now, but not. People use cassette tapes, steam trains pootle past in the background, everyone has a landline, yet kids wear Kanye-esque shutter shades and T-shirts with LCD panels, and a main character works in The Shard. It’s a time that’s never been; a very subtle form of fantasy.”

Why, but that’s just like “Harry Potter”!

Now I understand a lot better why I like it so much. Many movies may have a good plot, lovable characters or beautiful cinematography; but a good dose of imagination, so close to reality but not, always multiple the effect for me.

I found my self clapping spontaneously when the film ended as appreciation, and I wasn’t the only one who did! The whole theater were celebrating this movie, and I’m glad we did.

Score: 9 of 10

[Review] “Thor: Ragnarok” vs “Justice League”

So I watched “Justice League” last weekend.

Quite unintentionally, actually; since it wasn’t the movie I had planned to watch at first (Flo, why does this sound so familiar?) But since I DID end up watching it, I think I have to make the most out of it, so in this post I’ll jump on the bandwagon and make a movie battle between two Superhero movies that came out almost at the same time: “Thor: Ragnarok” vs “Justice League”.

Don’t misunderstand me, this has nothing to do with the alleged rivalry between Marvell and DC (‘s fans). I’m a fan of neither and also never followed the heated discussions, only made aware of a smidgen of it by accident. I’m just a movie lover who also love to write for fun.

I take up five aspects to compare, so if you also happened to had watched both—stay with me, and let me know if you also thought the same way. Let the battle begin!

1. Battle of the Villains: Hela vs Steppenwolf

In movies about superheroes, the villain undeniably is also a key ingredient for a flavorful and engaging story. It is always a hundred times more interesting if the villain have a solid character, and the audience are invited to see how their devilish mind works.

“Ragnarok” has Hela who is as enchanting as much as she is deadly. Her screen time is almost as crucial as the heroes’ in bringing the story forward AND gives her a sufficient back story.

She kicked ass.

She’s making other characters questioning their true selves and beliefs.

She got audience emotionally invested in her motive and deed.

Her hair even does its own do.

What’s not to love appreciate about her?

“Justice League”, on the other hand, has Steppenwolf who felt more like a cardboard CGI rather than a real character.

Oops. A little googling told me that he IS a CGI character, so that makes total sense. From his limited expressions to his wearisome lines, there’s no reason whatsoever for the audience to care about him. As the opponent of a team which supposedly had its own conflict of interests, “Justice League” had the chance to create an incredibly exciting villain. Why they opted for a bland CGI is beyond me.

2. Battle of the Eye Candy

Well, this is entirely a matter of taste, so I’ll just leave it here.

Well?

Well?

Well?

Well? So who’s your winner? =9

3. Battle of Rapport between Heroes and Heroines

Starring as heroes in “Ragnarok” are Thor, Loki; his adopted brother-cum-arch-rival, Hulk aka Bruce Banner, and the Valkyrie.

There are different dynamics between each characters, some are new and developing, some are long established but keep evolving. It is so FUN to watch their interaction.”Ragnarok” presented a package of colorful relationships: attempt at manipulation for what is believed to be greater good, cynicism turning grudging respect, and at the end, understanding and sense of united purpose from all of the heroes. Most importantly, all of the developments seem effortless along with the progression of the story.

“Justice League”, on the other hand, feels forced and awkward. Batman initially gathered the team because he needs their superpowers. Until the end of the movie, there are virtually zero development about how this might have changed. No scene to represent if Batman has developed liking, or respect, or understanding, or anything toward them.

Except, of course, his questionable love interest to Wonder Woman. Cheeeee-sy.

In the end, each character has their own motive in joining the team, and they seemed to be working together merely because they had to.

4. Battle of the Tone of the Movie

From the beginning, “Ragnarok” established that it doesn’t take itself very seriously. Comedic situations are abundant, be it in actions or in dialogues.
You still see the action, but you can also heartily appreciate when the supposedly serious scene turned comical, without losing its momentum.

“Justice League” designated itself as a more sober action movie. Humors are scarce, and not even very funny at all. The thing is, with the full action-movie mode on, the audience then expect that the exciting parts will be the action parts. Which “Justice League” failed so spectacularly because of the bad CGI.

The last part where Steppenwolf is preparing for mother boxes unity and creating some kind of energy net around a random Russian city?

Oh, come on.

Come on.

It was so bad, so bad, I would begin considering to leave the theater hadn’t I been considering it from the appearance of Steppenwolf at the first place.

5. Battle of Strategy to Win

“Ragnarok” heroes’ strategy to defeat the enemy is to go out of the box, bringing about the “Ragnarok” instead of trying to prevent it. Loki intentionally put Surtur’s crown to the eternal fire so Surtur could raise and destroy Asgard, and in extension, destroy Hela.

It is not clear what Surtur does after he destroyed Asgard, maybe sit around victorious and great in the ruins, I don’t know, but it’s a super unexpected plot twist, and you got to give credit for the cleverness. When enemy is stronger, rather than trying to out-power it, try other way.

On the other hand, Justice League idea to defeat Steppenwolf is… that’s right, simply trying to out-power it, by bringing back Superman from death in hope his power will match Steppenwolf. Super creative and original. I mean… it is to be expected, but still concluded Justice League as one of the more pointless movie of the year.

The Final Verdict!

So, we’ve got through all aspects, and in my book “Ragnarok” won easily. “Justice League” is not even a good movie overall!

“Justice League” score: 6.5/10

For “Thor: Ragnarok” score, you can check out my previous post.

Do you think there are some good points that can still salvage “Justice League”? Let me know in the comment section below.

Meanwhile, I’ll going to note here that initially I didn’t understand, and still don’t, the appearance of Doctor Strange in “Ragnarok”. But as I write this, it just crossed my mind that perhaps it is related to his power to change reality and dimension? (Sort of). Now that Asgard is destroyed and Asgardians are evacuating to Earth, they might need Doctor Strange’s power to restore/create a new Asgard.

I’m very excited to see if my guess is even remotely correct in the next “Thor” and/or “Avengers” movie!

Thanks for reading!

You Tube Channels I Like

Heyyyy, so how was your October? I hope you all had a great autumn season before we finally enter that time of the year again.

I am certainly celebrating, because… so many good movies! XD

First, “Happy Death Day” like I mentioned in my last post.

For a movie I only watched because I accidentally saw the trailer and felt intrigued, I ended up liking it a lot more than “Kingsman 2”, the main movie I had been so looking forward to and in which I happened to see the said trailer.

“Happy Death Day” packed so much good elements in one movie: lovable characters, exciting plot, nifty comedy, heartfelt message, and even fluffy romance.

Tree and Carter are so cute, and the actor who played Carter is such an eye candy. It is a great misfortune that he is only 23, really XD

Audience even got a chance to be a sleuth in this movie, and guess who the real murderer was. Did you guess correctly, and when did you guess it? Let me know in the comment section!

Then… I was going to watch “Geostorm” because my coworker raved about it. I wasn’t into disaster movie—everyone talked what a disaster “2012” was—I wouldn’t even know since I never interested in one of those. But my coworker talked about how “Geostorm” was different from other disaster movies, so I decided to give it a chance. I changed my mind in the very last minute because “Geostorm” reviews are so bad and went for “Thor: Ragnarok” (which reviews are goood) instead. And I’m glad I changed my mind!

I have to say that first 30 minutes or so weren’t that great. I especially found the appearance of Doctor Strange as a big “Huh? Why is this necessary again?” moment, but then the movie got better and better as it went forward.

I especially love the scene when Hela announced herself to the Asgard Army, and the reaction she got from the Army Leader was “I don’t know who you are, but we won’t let you take over Asgard” sort of thing, and Hela hilariously shot back “You don’t know who I am? Did you not listen to the WORDS I just said?”

It was one of many the-supposedly-serious-turned-comedic-scenes in “Thor”, the ingredient which made this movie so refreshing and brilliant, but, I don’t know, I just feel that this scene especially resonates more with us ladies. Because we are more prone to get into such a situation, when we just explained something but the person we talked to (usually men XD), (a) said something totally ignorant, (b) said something exactly the same in different wording, (c) continue to push through with previous topic/ideas as if we had said nothing.

Is it just me? Mansplaining, anyone? XD

In times like that, I really would love to have Hela’s superpower and roar, “Did you not LISTEN to the WORDS I said????” And KABOOM!!!

Wahahahahahaha.

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to alienate my men reader, I’m sure you are all real gentlemen who always listen carefully to people around you XD

I’d say both movies got 7.5 out 10: satisfactorily entertaining and you got the value for your time and money, but I won’t get into a full review this time.

Instead, in this blog post I want to do something a bit different than usual, and share some Youtube Channels I enjoy.

So random, I know, but why the hell not? XD

Mostly, I just stumbled upon the channels by chance, and found that the Youtubers present their contents in appealing way. I do subscribe, but I don’t always watch every video. I just check them out every now and then to see if there are new materials that I’m interested in.

1. Lily Koi Hawaii

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZkWBYAAMKgcl1eMjCt3jQ

Lily’s channel talks mainly about holistic health, healthy lifestyle, and veganism/plant based eating.

I’m not a vegan and I don’t promote veganism, but I do think that we have to eat waaay more vegetables than our current standard diet.

Lily is informative, persuasive and engaging about the benefits of eating plant based. She’s got a fantastic sense of humor, and she tones down her criticism to non vegan lately in order to appeal to wider audience. Wise move, I think, because if we approach someone who already has a different opinion to us with righteousness and accusation, it will only drive them away instead of drawing them to our side, right?

She made me laughed out loud in this video.

I don’t believe that eating solely plant based food is the healthiest option for your body in long term, but I do think she has a very healthy approach to her way of eating. If you need extra motivation to eat and live healthier, check her channel out.

2. Simon and Martina

https://www.youtube.com/user/simonandmartina

Simon and Martina are a married couple who made a big name initially from vlogging about k-pop and Korean culture. I knew their name since their Korean days, but I never really checked their videos. Now that they moved to Japan, I enjoy them a lot more since I can relate to many things they talk about.

I know Japan is a very fascinating place, especially for new comers. I found Simon & Martina’s videos stand out among many Japan vloggers because their genuineness and outstanding editing. Simple sound effect or captions could really go a long way in making videos a lot more attractive. What’s more, when I watch their videos, I feel they are trully invested in whatever they’re presenting and are eager to share with the audience.

I also admire how Martina talks openly about her depression and share videos about how she deals with them.

If you only watch their regular videos, you won’t have any ideas that Martina has an illness that makes her have to deal with a lot of pain, and a depression because of that, because they always seem like a very happy go lucky couple.

She is so brave in sharing about her struggles, and I think she’s helping so many people by it.

Other Japan vloggers I also like are Rachel and Jun.

They are also a married couple, and since Jun is Japanese while Rachel is American, I find their take to Japanese culture is rather refreshing.

3. Romee Strijd

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOXFVINC6GCo86LBy0NQCIg

If you happened to be a long time acquaintance of my blog, you’d know that I’m quite a Victoria’s Secret fan. I think their marketing concept is genius and as far as I know there is no other brand who is quite as successful in utilizing their brand ambassador.

Of all current Angels, I always think that Martha Hunt and Taylor Hill are particularly attractive. I didn’t especially care about other Angels, but I do understand that each has unique appeal which attract different type of people. Among them though, I thought Romee Strijd was just pretty in a very basic way and in fact a bit boring. I didn’t understand why VS chose her to be Angel among hundred others.

Then, recently Romee has taken to post regular vlog and I watched it by chance. Before, I only ever saw her photos or watched her in runway, so never really saw her interacting with others.

After I watched her vlog, I suddenly get her appeal and now I totally understand why she was chosen as angel!

In her vlogs, Romee seems to be very genuinely nice, always smiling, and in general giving very positive vibes. She’s fun to watch and her smile is contagious. If i have a product, I, too, would like a Romee’s brightness to be associated with that.

In this video, she and her boyfriend Laurens do Q&A, and I’m so impressed with how much they seem to support each other.

At one point Laurens was asked to described Romee in three words, and I was not surprised that the first was “positive”. Other two are “hardworking” and “sweet”, which I also agree, though I could only judge from her vlogs XD. Meanwhile Romee described Laurens as “ambitious”, “thoughtful”, and “funny”.

I was like, dang, they describe most pleasant qualities in each other!!
So, major swoon <33333

Romee’s vlogs have really revived my excitement for VSFS. This year’s fantasy bra looks very beautiful. I was hoping Romee would wear it but it suits Lais really well XD

There are couple of other youtube channels I enjoy, and maybe I will share it again some other time. Meanwhile, I’m preparing for upcoming blog post since there are so many exciting things I would like to share. So, see you then!

[Review] “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”

Eversince a Kingsman sequel was decided, I was kind of looking forward to that, because the first Kingsman movie, The Secret Service, made quite an impression on me.

Though my enthusiasm was initially dampened because “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” got dismal reviews online, I did manage to have a good time watching it.

You have got to admit that the entire movie was built on a rather dubious story line. Warning, major spoilers ahead, but I guess that’s fine because I always do movie review long after the movie start showing on the theaters =P

Dubious Point 1: Eggsy and Tilde’s Relationship

I really didn’t expect that Eggsy and Princess Tilde’s relationship would continue.
I thought the depiction of Eggsy’s getting some after “saving the world” in the end of the first movie was completely unnecessary and kind of tasteless.

Now that it actually made a plot in the second movie, it still feels more like a filler than the actual direction of the movie. You know, like when Rachel first dated Joey in “Friends”, we all thought it was only going to last 2 episodes max, but it turned out to be quite serious and long lasting.

Dubious Point 2: Poppy Adams the Drug Dealer

I didn’t understand why the Villain, Poppy the drug dealer queen, should live all isolated in the middle of nowhere. Is that true in real life? As far as I know (not that I know a lot),drug dealers live well in the middle of normal neighborhoods. In fact, the more successful of them always have other business as a cover and live even somewhat respectfully. If Richmond Valentine, the first movie villain from the first movie could in fact led a double life like that, why can’t Poppy?

The introduction scene to Poppy’s character near the beginning of the story using meat grinder reminded me to why I ultimately deemed the first Kingsman movie “vulgar and cheap” after the lively first two third. It was really grotesque, and regretfully, it seems to be the trademark of this movie. Cheap, over the top gory or carnal scenes treated with a bit of playfulness seem to be what makes Kingsman, Kingsman. The only redeeming thing was at the end, the meat grinder once again played a role, so it wasn’t entirely meaningless.

Dubious Point 3: Eggsy’s hook up with Clara

I was going to say, why a resourceful Secret Service like Kingsman can be so easily annihilated, but that goes without saying, so, moving on.

In order to track Poppy down, Eggsy had to seduced Charlie Hesketh’s girlfriend, Clara. Statesman Agent, Whiskey, tried first with wretched result.

That is understandable, but why must Clara fell for Eggsy, when she has a hot ass boyfriend like Charlie? (If we were about to go back, why must Tilde fell for Eggsy? What has Eggsy specifically done to charm her so? But, moving on). All Eggsy did was mentioning about their spirit animals and Clara switched to the aggressive side just like that.

In the end Eggsy had more trouble in trying to turn down her over enthusiastic advance than in wooing her.

Dubious Point 4: Harry Hart, The Return of

An important character came back from death was quite cliche at the first place. I know many fans were really hoping for Harry’s comeback, so the producer really just did their job fulfilling the market’s wish. But if you really need to bring him back, did you really need to kill him at the first place?

But I’d give a plus point for ”Alpha Gel”, which is claimed to be the substance that saved Harry’s live and repair his brain. It sounded very much like bullshit at the beginning, but the bullshitness level went down a little when it also served to give some preliminary insight to why Agent Whiskey opposed the free vaccine distribution, and why Harry was right in shooting him down.

Still related to the return of Harry, is it really, REALLY necessary to kill Roxy and Merlin? I feel their characters still have so much potentials, and I’m really not ready for the death of the two of them. Will they just disappear for this installment, then return in the next movie (if any)? I very much like the idea of Roxy and Merlin returning, but after Harry returned, it would be just too ridiculous if you bring back other two characters from death.

What made The Golden Circle Enjoyable Overall

The action scenes were good, not incredible or something, but good enough. I just couldn’t help to think that in the first scene where Eggsy fought failed-Kingsman-candidate-turned-bad Charlie Hesketh inside a car, the fast paced punches and dodges were very similar to old fashioned kungfu fight in narrow space scenes.

I do think this kind of fight choreography can be very riveting, and wouldn’t get old in the face of CG created scene because of the different niche. But if Jackie Chan and Jet Li’s movies have been creating this kind of breathless fight since waaaay before, of course newer movies need to be better and more creative each time. Kingsman didn’t bring it to the next level, but enough to spice things up.

Some dialogues were pretty witty (as in funny), though I doubt younger audience would get the “Country Road” reference, or feel for it as much as intended.

I also enjoyed the British feel of the movie. I said it before, but Kingsman gives taste like Enid Blyton’s stories made to silver screen with modern package, and I liked it.

The emotional conflicts were also depicted well, though it was super weird to see Harry as a helpless old man instead of his usual capable self.

Score: 7/10

Lastly, I’m not the first to comment on this and I hope someday this would be heeded. But 21 cineplex chain did little to nothing to make sure the age restriction is in force.

The movie can be rated NC-17 and irresponsible parents could still bring their underage kids to watch it.

This caught my attention now and then when I go to the movie theater, but last time there are three elementary school age kids sat in the seats right next to me, with their parents sat on their other side.

As I watched the meat grinder scene, and then, more so in the Glastonbury scene where Eggsy was forced to pleasure Clara, the lines “What the hell? Why are the parents okay with their kids watching this? Won’t this be normalized inside their little heads and they think it’s okay to act out these kind of things outside the movies??” kept replaying on my head.

If our country can force e-money as the only payment method in every toll gate, 21 Cineplex and other movie theater chains certainly can instruct their staff to filter underage audience at every theater entry.

In October, there is just one more movie I particularly look forward to watch, “Happy Death Day” which trailer was shown before “Kingsman” started.

I was busy in September, because there was a company event, but I also had a revelation that I was the shortest member in our department!

I thought I was taller than a couple of them but group picture certainly shows otherwise.

Anyway, photo session is always a lot of fun.

I also went to Ghibli Exhibition at Pacific Place Mall. I have a couple ideas to write about it in more details, but now, it is enough to say that “Spirited Away” is still my number one Ghibli movie and one of my favorite movies of all time.

I guess the nostalgic value and the circumstance in which I watched it will forever make “Spirited Away” irreplaceable, but I hope someday I’ll find a Ghibli movie that I adore just as much, if not more.

Review: Hidden Figures

Last week, I watched “Hidden Figures” with my sister. It was released on 10 March 2017 in Indonesia, quite late compared to its December 2016 premier at the US. And I’m glad I decided to watch it, since it was really one of the better movies I watched as of late. I even like it better than the more massively popular “La La Land”, which though had its share of capturing moments, was rather flat and uninteresting overall to me.

I know “Hidden Figures” primarily speaks about struggle in the work place as women, more specifically black women, when you face discrimination and unfair condition. And how your hard work can easily go unrecognized until much, much later, if at all.

But I relate to the movie at its more simple core: that work, in general, is no picnic.

There will be days when your job is piling up endlessly. There will be days when you’re tired and have zero motivation, but you still have to push through. You will have to face difficult colleagues, or unreasonable superior, or less than ideal condition. Often, feel of being overwhelmed is not just for one day, but for a long period of time.

Sometimes you may find you question yourself, “What the hell am I doing? What is it really am I pursuing, working this hard? Will this worth it in the end?”

By watching this movie, I am reminded that such conditions by no means is unique to my self.

Women, and I believe men, all over the world, are struggling with the same doubts everyday, some even might be with much bigger obstacles.

And that gives me some encouragement, a fresh inspiration to go on.

I think realizing that you are not alone and your circumstances is far more common than you think is powerful.

One thing I love about the movie is beside the work place struggle, it also showed the main characters’ home lives.

Wikipedia runs a brief naration regarding the historical accuracy of the events in “Hidden Figures” , and I don’t know how true the protrayal of the home lives were, but I truly found how Officer Jim Johnson proposed to the main heroine Katherine Goble was toes-curlingly sweet.

Like when Johnson said, “I know marrying you also means marrying your girls,” as the sign of his full  acceptance to Katherine’s condition as a widow with three children. And also, “The day I met you, I called my Mama and told her I’ve found a woman I would like to marry.”

Also, when Johnson presented his ring he told, “This is my Mama’s ring, and he and my father has been married for 53 years.” And then at the end of the movie, there was a little note describing that Jim and Katherine Johnson had just celebrated their 56 anniversary in really live.

D’aaawww.

Isn’t it just kind of proposal and (ensuing marriage) every girl would dream of???

One thing that caught me off guard, though, is how old Kirsten Dunst looked on this movie.

She looked really… matronly.

She is just few years older than me.

I had to google to make sure it wasn’t theater make up purposely used to make her look older, and I found the internet community are also exclaiming their befuddlement about how aged Dunst looked.

In my mind I always saw her as… maybe not quite Torrence Shipman from “Bring it On”, I know she was getting older, but maybe more like Betty Warren from “Mona Lisa’s Smile”, where she was a perfect classic beauty.

By the way, no movie yet take “Mona Lisa’s Smile” place as my number one favorite (grown up) movie of all time.  If you haven’t watched it already, I highly recommend it as well as “Hidden Figures”. Both are so poignant, era-appropriate fashionable, and I believe will well worth your time.

But, good for Dunst for finding a new niche for her acting. We cannot be a dazzling 20 twenty something heroine forever, right?

After the movie, I took my sister to dine at “Go! Curry” restaurant which I have been eyeing for sometimes.

This curry restaurant has interesting concept that you can “create your own” curry. They have selection of rice (regular steam rice, cilantro butter rice, aromatic yellow rice, etc.), choice of curries (brown curry, green curry, fancily named rogan josh, etc.), range of spiciness (mild to insanely hot), and variety of toppings (chicken, lamb, oxtail, mixed veggies, etc).

You choose one from each item, and the price will be determined by the topping.

This clever concept is what attracted me at the first place, and the curry admittedly tasted delicious. But for the tiny portion, it is quite expensive. Me and my sister just had one main curry dish each, we didn’t even order any drinks, and it still costed us IDR 200K (around USD 15).

Despite somewhat more poshly packaged, “Go! Curry” is still a chain restaurant, so I really didn’t find that bill justified. The ambiance of the restaurant (the one I visited was at the Kemang Village) is nothing special, either, so unless you don’t mind to spend pretty pennies for the sake of ‘trying’, just don’t bother.

Curry is so easy to make and a giant pot of home cooked one will be much, much more satisfying.

We did have a good time, though, and I hope I can have similar movie experience very soon.

Hidden Figures Score: 7.5/10
Go Curry Score: 6.5/10

We cannot be peculiar and just be awesome (someone’s gotta hound us)

Did you ever watch a movie or read a book which characters have some kind of superpowers, and they are just kind of enjoying their life with their power and get on with it?

No?

Yeah, I bet so.

You can fly?  Some villains are out there to beat you. You can levitate things with your stare? Some secret organization is determined to put you behind bars. You can turn back time? There’s someone important you have to save within inches of your own life.

And so on and so on.

There has never been a story which goes ‘There’s a girl who can be invisible. She spends her spare time going to movie theater to watch movies for free and stalking her crush naked. And that’s how she continues to have ordinary life despite everything.’

No.

In stories, when you’re extraordinary, it seems guaranteed that you’ll have someone who hound you down.

“Miss Peregrine’s Home for  Peculiar Children” goes along the same line.

Krampus—Crapness is More Like It

Ahhh, this time of the year again.

When sleigh bells are ringing, pretty lights are shining, and, holiday movies are coming to town.

When I first read somewhere that “Krampus” is a horror comedy movie, I could already feel the excitement.Who doesn’t love a good laugh and a good scare?

But unfortunately, Krampus didn’t provide either. Here’s why.

A Page in My Book of Life

As I said once in this post, I’m not always your backpacker, adventurer type of girl.

In fact, my most common weekend activity is glued to my laptop screen browsing malls-hoping.

I’m not a shopaholic. Maybe because I don’t have the money, lol. But if there’s a new mall opens, I love to go over and explore. I love observing the mall interior, the shops, the ambience, and even the rest rooms. Yes, I know especially girls would agree with me, that it’s a super plus point if a mall has nice rest rooms, right? =)

So last week I decided to give Baywalk Mall, a relatively new mall in North Jakarta, a go. My coworker has gone there for a business meeting, and she said it has a nice by the sea view.